The centennial year ends with two bangs

摘要

The year 2017, which marked RIKEN's centennial, began with a big bash held in downtown Tokyo to thank people outside RIKEN who had contributed to the institution, to commemorate the past one hundred years and to map out a vision for the next. And the year closed with two other celebrations, meant to thank the people within the organization itself and help strengthen the RIKEN community. The first of these two centennial meetings, held in Kobe in November-bringing together personnel from Harima, Osaka, and Kobe-featured a panel discussion on 'Designing RIKEN for the Next 100 Years', followed by a reception. The second, held on the Wako campus, brought people from the Sendai, Tsukuba, Wako, Tokyo, and Yokohama campuses. It featured a lecture by President Hiroshi Matsumoto about RIKEN's future directions and the issues of nurturing outstanding personnel and linking research to social innovation. There were also several lectures on topics including neutron star mergers, artificial intelligence and advanced photonics devices. In the evening, personnel were able to attend a traditional ceremony featuring the opening of Japanese sake casks or a rice-pounding ceremony. These events gave researchers and staff from different parts of RIKEN the chance to interact and look ahead to the next 100 years.