National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
Encyclopedia
The , or AIST, is a Japanese research facility headquartered in Tokyo, and most of the workforce is located in Tsukuba Science City
, Ibaraki
, and in several cities throughout Japan. The institute is managed to integrate scientific and engineering knowledge to address socio-economic needs. It became a newly designed legal body of independent administrative institution
in 2001, remaining under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
.
AIST defines such research as Type-II Basic Research, which integrates multiple disciplines and creates methods for the use of integrated knowledge; traditional basic research is defined as Type-I Basic Research, which is the pursuit and discovery of novel rules, laws and principles that govern natural phenomena.
AIST places its highest priority on the pursuit of complete research, "Full Research", ranging from Type-I Basic Research to the development of products by conducting intensive Type-II Basic Research.
Each Unit of AIST places its highest priorities on establishing an integrated research system that enables researchers with different scientific backgrounds to participate in scenario-oriented research projects to address the needs of society.
Tsukuba, Ibaraki
is a city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. It is known as the location of the , a planned city developed in the 1960s.As of 2008, the city has an estimated population of 207,394 and a population density of 730 persons per km². Its total area is 284.07 km².Mount Tsukuba, particularly well-known...
, Ibaraki
Ibaraki Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan, located in the Kantō region on the main island of Honshu. The capital is Mito.-History:Ibaraki Prefecture was previously known as Hitachi Province...
, and in several cities throughout Japan. The institute is managed to integrate scientific and engineering knowledge to address socio-economic needs. It became a newly designed legal body of independent administrative institution
Independent Administrative Institution
An Incorporated Administrative Agency or in lay terms an Independent Administrative Corporation or Independent Administrative Institution is a newly designed type of legal body for Japanese governmental organizations regulated by the Basic Law on Reforming Government Ministries of 1998...
in 2001, remaining under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (Japan)
The or METI, is a ministry of the Government of Japan. It was created by the 2001 Central Government Reform when the Ministry of International Trade and Industry merged with agencies from other ministries related to economic activities, such as the Economic Planning Agency.METI, which used to be...
.
Three missions of AIST
- Advanced Research by exploring broad spectra of research fields and integrating multidisciplinary subjects to promote innovation in versatile fields that strengthen the competitiveness of Japanese industries in the world market and create new industries.
- Interdisciplinary and Cross-Disciplinary Research that enables planning long-range governmental policies by exploiting the current and future needs of society.
- Basic Research that maintains and strengthens competitiveness of national science and technology by developing and maintaining high standards of scientific and engineering research under the sole responsibility of AIST.
Type-I and Type-II basic researches
The institute attempts to use and integrate scientific and engineering knowledge that is fragmented into various disciplines to address versatile and highly complex socio-economic needs that change rapidly with time.AIST defines such research as Type-II Basic Research, which integrates multiple disciplines and creates methods for the use of integrated knowledge; traditional basic research is defined as Type-I Basic Research, which is the pursuit and discovery of novel rules, laws and principles that govern natural phenomena.
AIST places its highest priority on the pursuit of complete research, "Full Research", ranging from Type-I Basic Research to the development of products by conducting intensive Type-II Basic Research.
Each Unit of AIST places its highest priorities on establishing an integrated research system that enables researchers with different scientific backgrounds to participate in scenario-oriented research projects to address the needs of society.
Employees
The institute employs researchers of various backgrounds and levels of expertise who carry out research with respect to the three main mission of the institute. The number of employees are as follows:- Researchers: 2,508
- Tenured researchers: 1,995
- Fixed-term researchers: 513
- Administrative staffs: 717
- Total number of employees: 3,225 (as of April 1, 2005)
Notable scientists
- Hiroyuki Yoshikawa, former President of AIST, University of TokyoUniversity of Tokyo, abbreviated as , is a major research university located in Tokyo, Japan. The University has 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, 2,100 of whom are foreign. Its five campuses are in Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano. It is considered to be the most prestigious university...
(1993–1997), Science Council of Japan (1997–2003) and International Council for ScienceInternational Council for ScienceThe International Council for Science , formerly the International Council of Scientific Unions, was founded in 1931 as an international non-governmental organization devoted to international co-operation in the advancement of science...
(1999–2002) - Jun KondoJun KondoJun Kondo is a theoretical physicist in Japan. His research is famous for the Kondo effect.- Honours and appointments :*1959 Dr...
, a famous researcher for the Kondo effectKondo effectIn physics, the Kondo effect describes the scattering of conduction electrons in a metal due to magnetic impurities. It is a measure of how electrical resistivity changes with temperature.... - Sumio IijimaSumio IijimaSumio Iijima is a Japanese physicist, often cited as the discoverer of carbon nanotubes. Although carbon nanotubes had been observed prior to his "discovery", Iijima's 1991 paper generated unprecedented interest in the carbon nanostructures and has since fueled intense research in the area of...
, the discoverer of the Carbon nanotubeCarbon nanotubeCarbon nanotubes are allotropes of carbon with a cylindrical nanostructure. Nanotubes have been constructed with length-to-diameter ratio of up to 132,000,000:1, significantly larger than for any other material... - Yoshinori Tokura, famous for nanotechnologyNanotechnologyNanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...
experiments - Hiromichi KatauraHiromichi Kataurais a Japanese scientist known for his work on synthesis and characterization of single-wall and double-wall carbon nanotubes and on encapsulation of water, fullerene and other organic molecules into carbon nanotubes....
, well known for his research in carbon nanotubesOptical properties of carbon nanotubesWithin materials science, the optical properties of carbon nanotubes refer specifically to the absorption, photoluminescence, and Raman spectroscopy of carbon nanotubes. Spectroscopic methods offer the possibility of quick and non-destructive characterization of relatively large amounts of carbon...
and for the Kataura plot
Products
- HRP-2 Promet, a domestic general helper robotDomestic robotA domestic robot is a robot used for household chores. Thus far, there are only a few limited models, though science fiction writers and other speculators have suggested that they could become more common in the future...
(under development) in joint Humanoid Robotics ProjectHumanoid Robotics ProjectThe Humanoid Robotics Project is a project for development of general domestic helper robots, sponsored by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization , spearheaded by Kawada Industries and supported by the National Institute...
with Kawada Industries - HRP-4CHRP-4CThe HRP-4C is a female humanoid robot, created by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology - a Japanese research facility. An in-public demonstration was put on March 16, 2009. It measures 158 centimetres tall, and weighs 43 kilos - including a battery pack...
, a female humanoid robot - ParoParo (robot)Paro is a therapeutic robot baby harp seal, intended to be very cute and to have a calming effect on and elicit emotional responses in patients of hospitals and nursing homes, similar to Animal-Assisted Therapy....
, a baby harp sealHarp SealThe harp seal or saddleback seal is a species of earless seal native to the northernmost Atlantic Ocean and adjacent parts of the Arctic Ocean. It now belongs to the monotypic genus Pagophilus. Its scientific name, Pagophilus groenlandicus, means "ice-lover from Greenland", and its synonym, Phoca...
robot for therapeutic use - DeleGateDeleGate (networking)DeleGate is a lightweight proxy server. It features support for HTTP, FTP, NNTP, SMTP, POP, IMAP, LDAP, Telnet, SOCKS, DNS, SFTP/SSH, and many more protocols. SSL/TLS and IPv6 are also supported. DeleGate has the ability to convert IPv4 to IPv6 and vice versa.The sources and binaries for...
, a multi-purpose application-level gateway / proxy serverProxy serverIn computer networks, a proxy server is a server that acts as an intermediary for requests from clients seeking resources from other servers. A client connects to the proxy server, requesting some service, such as a file, connection, web page, or other resource available from a different server...
See also
- Humanoid Robotics ProjectHumanoid Robotics ProjectThe Humanoid Robotics Project is a project for development of general domestic helper robots, sponsored by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization , spearheaded by Kawada Industries and supported by the National Institute...
- Independent Administrative InstitutionIndependent Administrative InstitutionAn Incorporated Administrative Agency or in lay terms an Independent Administrative Corporation or Independent Administrative Institution is a newly designed type of legal body for Japanese governmental organizations regulated by the Basic Law on Reforming Government Ministries of 1998...
(IAI) - List of Independent Administrative Institutions (Japan)
External links
- AIST Web site
- Humanoid Robotics Group: Humanoid robot HRP-2 Promet and Theage.com, "Robotic helper coming soon"