April 13, 2021
Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU)
Kavli IPMU is one of four University of Tokyo divisions to join forces with the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), to promote collaborative research between researchers and graduate students in five primary research fields of physics: neutrino physics, primordial universe, dark matter, gravitational waves and particle physics, it was announced on April 1.
The new International Laboratory for Astrophysics, Neutrino and Cosmology Experiments (ILANCE) will be located at the University of Tokyo’s Kashiwa campus, and involves researchers belonging to projects including the Hyper-Kamiokande, Super-Kamiokande, T2K, KAGRA, CTA, LiteBIRD, PFS of Subaru Telescope, ATLAS and ILC.
French researchers and graduate students will be able to stay in Japan for medium to long-term trips to advance research activities and relationship with Japanese colleagues.
Kavli IPMU Associate Professor Tomotake Matsumura has been named Kavli IPMU secretarial faculty member OR Kavli IPMU managing faculty member of ILANCE. Matsumura is currently involved in LiteBIRD, a satellite that will search for primordial gravitational waves emitted during the cosmic inflation era.
“I hope ILANCE will provide international collaborative research opportunities for scientists including graduate students and postdocs within each project and across the projects. On my personal side, France lead the high-frequency instrument of ESA Planck satellite, and I am looking forward to working with scientists in France closely in this framework,” Matsumura said.
The first ILANCE workshop for Astrophysics, Neutrinos and Cosmology Experiments was held online on April 7.
ILANCE co- representative, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research Director and Kavli IPMU Principal Investigator Takaaki Kajita spoke at the beginning of the first workshop commemorating the ILANCE launch.
“More than 50 physicists will participate in this laboratory. It is very important to collaborate with the world-leading scientists in CNRS/IN2P3 for carrying out cutting-edge scientific research. I hope that this new laboratory can provide a good opportunity for researchers and students in both countries soon after the situation of COVID-19 will improve,” he said.
Michel Gonin, co-representative of ILANCE (Professor of Institut Polytechnique de Paris) pointed out the objectives of ILANCE was “creating a new cooperation tool shared by CNRS with one single foreign partner for the benefit of common projects and the development of international collaborations.”
To learn more about this story, see the article by the University of Tokyo here.
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