”It is critical that a core of talented young researchers be fostered and networks created among them across the region.”

In 2008, it was announced that four Japanese researchers would receive the Nobel Prize. This news electrified Japan. And I believed it also energized our friends in the wider Asian community. Asia has over recent decades undergone a process of truly remarkable development, not only socially and economically, but also in terms of science and technology as well. It’s our task now to strengthen the scientific partnership among the region’s countries/areas so that we can contribute to the world by generating research fruits on par with those of North America and Europe. For that purpose, it is critical that a core of talented young researchers be fostered and networks created among them across the region.

HOPE Meetings will engage specially selected doctoral students from Asian countries/areas in discussions with Nobel laureates and other distinguished scientists amidst a close and friendly atmosphere. It will also give the young participants ample opportunity to interact with each other. For these reasons, I believe that HOPE Meetings provide one of the Asian region’s most effective platforms for advancing the careers and networks of young doctoral researchers.

The participants will enjoy close communication with several Nobel laureates, beginning with the HOPE Meeting’s chairperson Dr. Makoto Kobayashi (2008 Nobel laureate in Physics). We at JSPS look forward to the participants receiving stimulation that inspires within them new ideas and concepts. We also believe that the meeting will help them to develop the kind of personal philosophy that can inform and guide their long and fruitful researcher career paths.