
The World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI) was inaugurated in 2007 by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) with a mission of establishing “globally visible research centers” within Japan, where researchers on the frontline of science gather from all over the world. WPI centers are required to fulfill the following criteria of “advancing cutting-edge research,” “creating interdisciplinary domains,” “establishing international research environments,” and “reforming research organizations.” ELSI was selected to be a member institution of this prestigious initiative in 2012.
(Map as of 2022)
Other WPI Centers
- Advanced Institute for Materials Research (AIMR), Tohuku University
- Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU), The University of Tokyo
- Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS), Kyoto University
- Immunology Frontier Research Center (iFRec), Osaka University
- International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), National Institute for the Materials Science (NIMS)
- International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research (I2CNER), Kyushu University
- International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine (IIIS), Tsukuba University
- Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (ITbM), Nagoya University
- International Research Center for Neurointelligence (IRCN), The University of Tokyo
- Nano Life Science Institute (NanoLSI), Kanazawa University
- Institute for Chemical Reaction Design and Discovery (ICReDD), Hokkaido University
- Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Biology (ASHBi), Kyoto University
- IInternational Center for Quantum-field Measurement Systems for Studies of the Universe and Particles (QUP), High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK)
- Premium Research Institute for Human Metaverse Medicine (PRIMe), Osaka University
- International Institute for Sustainability with Knotted Chiral Meta Matter (SKCM²), Hiroshima University
- Human Biology-Microbiome-Quantum Research Center (Bio2Q), Keio University
- Advanced Institute for Marine Ecosystem Change (WPI-AIMEC), Tohoku University・Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology