Boost for investment in UK science and technology

One of the largest research collaboration projects between the UK and Japan has been extended by seven and a half years until 2018, to enable vital research to continue in areas such as superconducting materials for computing and medical technology and the science underpinning fusion energy.

The agreement builds on 20 years of collaboration between scientists and engineers at the RIKEN Nishina Centre for
Accelerator-based Science in Japan and the ISIS Neutron and Muon Facility at STFC’s Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) which has already resulted in tens of millions of pounds of investment into ISIS by RIKEN over the period.

Nobel Laureate and RIKEN President, Professor Noyori, said, "We are proud to be extending this highly successful agreement with STFC. The RIKEN-RAL partnership is not only at the forefront of muon science, having resulted in over 250 papers being published over the last 20 years; it has furthered the cultural understanding between Japan and the United Kingdom. We look forward to working together on the very promising new developments in muon science in the future, many of which have important potential benefits for society and the economy."

"One area the RIKEN-RAL group is working on is our understanding of superconductors which operate at high temperatures, said Dr Philip King, Leader of ISIS Muon Group. "Superconductors are used in applications such as hospital MRI scanners but currently have to be cooled to be effective which is very expensive. Research carried out in collaboration with the Universities of London and Oxford, has made significantcontributions to our understanding of these materials".

Other projects include detecting the signatures of fusion energy (muon-catalysed fusion) to underpin the science behind the search for generating alternative, clean energy and, in collaboration with Toyota Central R&D Labs., increasing our understanding of how the charge moves around in laptop and mobile phone battery materials.

Professor Keith Mason, STFC Chief Executive said," We are honoured to work so closely with RIKEN and its many gifted and distinguished researchers. It is one of the most successful UK-Japan scientific collaborations. Today’s agreement not only celebrates the many highlights and achievements of our partnership over the last 20 years, it also opens up new possibilities for addressing the exciting future challenges that muon science has to offer."

The extension of the partnership will also enable the operation of a unique instrument at the RIKEN-RAL facility – the Chronus Spectrometer - which will make it easier for scientists to study materials under extreme conditions of pressure and temperature using muons. The spectrometer will be especially useful for studying organic LEDs which are used in camera and mobile phone devices to make the images brighter and to produce thinner displays.