National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology

The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) is a large research center in Japan. Its main office is in Tokyo, but most of the scientists and workers are in Tsukuba Science City in Ibaraki and other places across Japan. AIST was created to combine science and engineering to help solve important problems for society and the economy.

In 2001, AIST became a special kind of organization called an Independent Administrative Institution. It still works closely with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The institute studies many areas, like new materials, energy, and information technology, to make life better for everyone.

History

The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, called AIST, began in its current form in 2001. But its research groups have been working since 1882. By 2015, AIST had more than 40 research institutes and several offices across Japan, including the International Metrology Cooperation Office.

Three missions of AIST

AIST has three main goals. First, it does advanced research to help create new ideas and stronger industries in Japan. Second, it studies topics that connect different subjects to help plan long-term government policies. Third, it focuses on basic research to keep Japan strong in science and technology.

Type-I and Type-II basic research

AIST brings together science and engineering to solve problems that change quickly.

Type-II Basic Research combines different subjects to create new uses for knowledge. Type-I Basic Research looks for new rules about how nature works. AIST does research from Type-I to creating new products through Type-II Basic Research.

Each part of AIST helps scientists with different backgrounds work together on projects to meet society's needs.

Employees

The institute has many researchers and staff members who work on important projects. As of April 1, 2012, there were 2,288 researchers and 661 administrative staff. In total, the institute had 2,949 employees.

Geological Survey of Japan

The Geological Survey of Japan (GSJ) started in 2001. It was created from parts of the AIST that studied the Earth’s surface and rocks. This new GSJ replaced an older version that began much earlier, in 1882.

Notable scientists

Some famous scientists have worked at AIST. Hiroyuki Yoshikawa was the former President of AIST and also led the University of Tokyo, the Science Council of Japan, and the International Council for Science. Jun Kondo is known for his work on the Kondo effect. Sumio Iijima discovered the Carbon nanotube. Yoshinori Tokura is known for experiments in nanotechnology. Hiromichi Kataura did important research with carbon nanotubes and created the Kataura plot.

Products

AIST has created many interesting things, like robots and helpful tools. One robot is the HRP-2 Promet. It was made to help with everyday jobs, and AIST worked on it with Kawada Industries. There is also HRP-4C, a robot that looks like a person. Another special robot is Paro. It looks like a baby harp seal and is used to help people feel better.

AIST has also made other tools, like DeleGate. This tool connects different kinds of computer networks. They also made a free online database called the Spectral Database for Organic Compounds (SDBS). This database has information about the shapes and properties of many organic compounds. AIST created the Structure atlas of the human genome, which helps scientists study human DNA.