On May 11-12, 2026, the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) held a kickoff meeting at its Tokyo Headquarters for the five newly selected projects for FY2025, together with an annual briefing for the 13 ongoing projects in the Materials field under the Adopting Sustainable Partnerships for Innovative Research Ecosystem (ASPIRE).

Project Information:
https://www.jst.go.jp/aspire/en/program_e/assignment_e/index.html

The first day of the meeting, May 11, began with opening remarks by Dr. Takuzo Aida, Program Officer (PO) for ASPIRE in the field of Materials, and Mr. Atsushi Arakawa, Director of the Office of ASPIRE at JST. The eight projects selected in FY2023 presented progress reports on ongoing joint research and international researcher mobility and circulation. Early-career researchers who studied abroad during the program also shared their experiences. Following the project presentations, an opinion exchange session was held for all participants.

On the second day, May 12, the five projects selected in FY2024 reported on their research progress, and early-career researchers involved in those projects shared their activities. This was done in the same manner as the FY2023 projects. Then, the projects selected in FY2025—three projects (Itami, Takeoka, and Matsuhisa projects) under the ASPIRE for Top Scientists category and two projects (Tsuchiya and Tung projects) under the ASPIRE for Rising Scientists category—presented overviews of international joint research plans and research exchange initiatives centered on early-career researchers. Following this, opinion exchanges involving all participants were held as on the first day of the meeting. At the end of the meeting, Dr. Kenjiro Miyano, the Program Director (PD) of ASPIRE and Dr. Aida provided an overall assessment, and the meeting concluded with applause from participants.

During the opinion exchange sessions, participants discussed themes proposed in advance by Principal Investigators (PIs) of the projects, and shared information and knowledge accumulated through their respective projects. Even during breaks and after the meeting, there were conversations among top scientists and networking by early-career researchers, including students. Participating researchers commented, “Bringing together ASPIRE projects selected across all fiscal years gave me the opportunity to interact with many researchers,” and “I would like to participate in the meeting again next year.”
We would like to express our gratitude once again to Dr. Miyano, Dr. Aida, and other advisers, as well as PIs and collaborators, who took time out of their busy schedules to attend this meeting.

In the Materials field of ASPIRE, we will promote research projects through effective exchanges between top scientists and next-generation researchers utilizing the knowledge gained through this kick-off meeting and annual briefing.

(Report by Kawajiri & Minowa, Office of ASPIRE, Department of International Affairs)

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