Tohoku University launches "ZERO INSTITUTE," a venue for free research and corporate collaboration — Over 100 visiting scholars expected in three years

Tohoku University has launched a new platform called the "ZERO INSTITUTE," which will enable outstanding young researchers from Japan and overseas to pursue the research themes they want to tackle outside their home institutions, while also facilitating interactions among researchers, corporate partnerships, and social implementation of research results. Full-scale activities began on September 1. President Teiji Tominaga stated, "I hope they will use the ZERO INSTITUTE as a gateway to take flight to the world."

Among globally active young Japanese researchers, there are those who wish to continue their careers at the universities, research institutions, and companies to which they currently belong, but at the same time, want to actively engage in social implementation and industry-academia collaboration in their country of origin. Taku Watanabe, who is a Visiting Professor (Representative Director of ZERO Foundation / General Partner at HERO Impact Capital), has become the Deputy Institute Director of the ZERO INSTITUTE. He has provided research funding support to over 400 young researchers since 2011, and says he has increasingly heard such wishes from the community that was formed through these efforts.

However, conventional Japanese-style systems had no mechanisms that could accommodate such demands. Meanwhile, as social issues have diversified and their solutions require combining cutting-edge research and development across various fields, it has become difficult for industry to approach cutting-edge research scattered across different locations and bases.

The ZERO INSTITUTE was established to solve these issues and advance the social implementation of innovation by ensuring diverse collaborations with globally active young researchers.

The institute invites young researchers active at universities, research institutions, and companies worldwide to attend as Visiting Scholars (visiting faculty). Visiting Scholars, after undergoing screening, receive the research funding necessary to advance their research and can utilize Tohoku University's diverse common infrastructure to conduct their research. Since they belong to other institutions, contracts are arranged according to their situations to enable diverse working styles, such as utilizing time outside work hours, belonging to both institutions through cross-appointments, or leading research online by employing postdoctoral researchers. Personnel costs are paid from research funds.

Executive Vice President Takafumi Aoki stated, "Unless we increase flexibility in matters of personnel, people from around the world will not gather. We want to increase contractual flexibility and have a diverse range of people play active roles."

Visiting Scholars will plan and execute social implementation projects themselves. When this is done, the content of all projects will be shared with sponsor companies, allowing them to access cutting-edge research. This enables collaboration with projects across multiple fields and makes it possible to solve social issues and construct new businesses.

Executive Vice President Tsuyoshi Tohyama stated, "Previous industry-academia collaboration was one-to-one, connected by each other's element technologies. Social issues require combining various element technologies. At the ZERO INSTITUTE, researchers and companies gather in an N-to-N format, creating new collaborations. We will also steadily advance startup support."

Full-scale activities began on September 1. Starting with about 40 Visiting Scholars, the goal is to reach a state where over 100 researchers are constantly affiliated by 2028. Over 40 sponsor companies are expected. "We're already in discussions with more than ten companies" Watanabe stated.

There are already several Visiting Scholar candidates. Riku Arakawa (born 1996), a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University engaged in healthcare research on topics such as wearable sensor-based diagnostic interfaces for pediatric ADHD hyperactivity and behavioral analysis technology during counseling, has experience not only in academic achievements but also social implementation. Hiroo Miyata (born 1999) is a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University who experienced being a startup CTO while at the University of Tokyo. He is currently elucidating decision-making and motivation mechanisms in the motor cortex through behavioral experiments and neural recordings in primates, advancing the construction of control systems using BCI (Brain-Computer Interface).

Other outstanding young researchers have also stepped forward, including a 33-year-old researcher conducting quantum network-related research at an overseas company, a 29-year-old engaged in soft robotics development at a domestic company, a 31-year-old working on molecular mechanism research of autophagy and mitophagy at an overseas university, and a 32-year-old advancing energy storage technology development for space environments at an overseas space agency.

New chemical reactions are expected to emerge as many young researchers meet each other and mix with companies.