About Kavli IPMU
The Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (IPMU) was launched in October 2007 as part of the World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI), under the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, with the University of Tokyo as the host institution. In 2011, the University of Tokyo established the Todai Institutes for Advanced Study (TODIAS) * and approved IPMU as its first member institute. The name of the Institute was changed to the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU) in April 2012 after the University of Tokyo decided to accept an endowment from the Kavli Foundation. As of April 2021, the institute has 100 full time researchers. Including affiliate members and students, it is an international research center for some 300 researchers and many more visitors in physics, mathematics and astronomy.
* On April 1, 2015, the Todai Institutes for Advanced Study (TODIAS) renamed its English name to the University of Tokyo Institutes for Advanced Study (UTIAS).
History
| 2007 | October | The Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (IPMU) is established Hitoshi Murayama appointed as first IPMU Director "Inaugural Address" |
| 2008 | March | IPMU hosts its Opening Symposium and Reception |
| June | Temporary research facility completed | |
| September | Kamioka branch is established | |
| October | International researcher numbers exceed half of all members | |
| December | IPMU presented with 2008 University of Tokyo President's Award for business transformation | |
| 2009 | February | Construction of Kamioka branch research facility completed |
| December | Construction of institute building completed | |
| IPMU Satellite office set up at the University of California, Berkeley | ||
| 2010 | February | Inauguration Ceremony of new IPMU building |
| 2011 | January | IPMU approved as the first entity within the Todai Institutes for Advanced Study (TODIAS) |
| April | Construction of Research Complex 2 building completed | |
| December | IPMU receives top S Ranking by the World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI) Program Committee | |
| 2012 | April | Institute renamed Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU) after receiving an endowment from the Kavli Foundation |
| May | Kavli Foundation members invited to take part in Kavli IPMU Commemoration Ceremony | |
| 2013 | December | Kavli IPMU presented with 2013 University of Tokyo President's Award for business transformation |
| 2014 | April | Kavli IPMU and Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. establish the Endowed Research Unit: Dark side of the Universe |
| 2015 | March | Kavli IPMU receives five year funding extension starting 2017, following performance review by the WPI Program Committee |
| October | Kavli IPMU Principal Investigator Takaaki Kajita awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics | |
| December | Kavli IPMU presented with 2015 University of Tokyo's Special Award for business transformation | |
| 2016 | December | Kavli IPMU presented with 2016 University of Tokyo's Special Award for business transformation |
| 2017 | October | Kavli IPMU celebrates its 10th anniversary |
| December | Kavli IPMU presented with 2017 University of Tokyo President's Award for business transformation | |
| 2018 | October | Hirosi Ooguri appointed as second Kavli IPMU Director "Inaugural Address" |
| December | Kavli IPMU presented with 2018 University of Tokyo's Special Award for business transformation | |
| 2020 | December | Kavli IPMU presented with 2019 / 2020 University of Tokyo's Excellence Encouragement Award for business transformation |
| 2023 | November | Jun'ichi Yokoyama appointed as third Kavli IPMU Director |