Prof. Junji Hisano has been appointed as the new Director of the Kobayashi-Maskawa Institute for the Origin of Particles and the Universe (KMI) on April 1st, 2020.

KMI was founded in April 2010 after the Novel prize award in physics to Profs. Kobayashi and Maskawa for their discovery of origin of broken symmetry. Since then, KMI has been conducting theoretical, experimental and observational studies of elementary particles and the universe under the leadership of Profs. Kobayashi and Maskawa. This year, our 10th anniversary, KMI welcome Prof. Junji Hisano as our new director. 

Message from the director

Message from the director

The Kobayashi-Maskawa Institute for the Origin of Particles and the Universe (KMI) was launched in April 2010 under the leadership of its director, Prof. Toshihide Maskawa. Prof. Makoto Kobayashi took over the directorship from 2018. Under the leadership of both directors, KMI has been conducting theoretical, experimental and observational studies of elementary particles and the universe. Since the establishment of KMI, the Institute’s researchers have played active roles in international research projects and made important contributions to several remarkable results. Notable among these are the discovery of the Higgs boson and the direct observation of neutrino oscillations, both of which led to Nobel Prizes. In October 2019 KMI was positioned as one of the flagships of basic science at Nagoya University, under the umbrella of the newly established Nagoya University Institute for Advanced Study (NAIAS).

Prof. Kobayashi suggested that his successor as director of KMI should be an active researcher, so that KMI could be managed under the leadership of someone on the front lines of cosmology and particle-physics research.I am very much honored to accept the appointment to this important position and determined to shoulder all of the responsibilities that will be laid upon me.
・Under my direction over the next two years, KMI will make the following efforts.
・KMI will pursue first-class, cutting-edge research in elementary particles and the universe and will strive to become an international research center that gathers people and information across research fields and countries.
・KMI will foster international and interdisciplinary researchers and will build and deepen international educational networks through joint research projects.
・With the development of new fields and multilayered research programs, KMI will build an effective organization to conduct cutting-edge international research on a continuing basis.
・KMI will promote outreach and international public relations, enhancing the visibility of KMI as a highly advanced international research base.

Ten years have passed since the establishment of KMI. The true abilities of KMI will be tested in the coming decade, independent of the reputation and influence of the two Nobel Prize laureates, Drs. Kobayashi and Maskawa. Under the slogan of “Beyond Kobayashi-Maskawa,” KMI will pursue specialization, promote the integration of various fields as well as international joint research, and develop as a research institute, faithful to Nagoya’s rich history in the study of elementary particles and the universe.

April 1, 2020 
Junji Hisano
Director