ITbM gathers world-leading researchers in the fields of synthetic chemistry, biology, and theoretical science, and they work together to conduct interdisciplinary research. In 2013, ITbM started with ten PIs (7 from NU, 3 from overseas), and added three more PIs (1 from NU, 2 from overseas) by 2016 to further advance its research.
In 2022, under the initiative of the new Director, ITbM is working on research that contributes to human health, with a view of recent global climate changes and data science. With a view to promoting diversity, ITbM has appointed a new PI and three junior PIs who are necessary to tackle these research areas, and will take on the challenges for the next 5-10 years.
To enable world-class researchers to participate in ITbM as overseas PIs, ITbM has introduced the Co-PI system. Through this system, ITbM employs brilliant young researchers as Co-PIs who work full-time at ITbM while
cooperating with the overseas PIs. This system enables the overseas PIs to carry out their-own research at ITbM with continuity, and has contributed to improving the global visibility of ITbM. Co-PIs were also allocated to PIs at Nagoya University (NU PIs) to enable them to focus on their research.
One of the keys is the Administrative Department of ITbM, especially the members of the Research Promotion Division (RPD) and the Strategic Planning Division (SPD). The RPD finds inventions and scientific discoveries from each research group at an early stage and achieves mainstream recognition from society through diverse activities such as
public relations, science visualization, and so on. The SPD promotes technologize ITbM's research results through application of patents and academia-industry collaboration. The RPD also has the capability to provide local support to ITbM's foreign researchers and their families, enabling them to fully concentrate on their research. ITbM's four, sub-centers (Chemical Library Center, Live Imaging Center, Peptide Protein Center, and Molecular Structure Center) also make significant contributions to ITbM's interdisciplinary research. ITbM's research activities are supported by many capable and dedicated staff in ITbM.
As international collaboration has been considerably enhanced by ITbM's internationalization and global visibility, ITbM has strategically expanded its collaboration network and strengthened international collaborative relationships with existing partners such as the Center for Selective C-H Functionalization (NSF, US), RIKEN Center for Sustainable
Resource Science (CSRS, Japan), Institute of Chemistry (IoC) at Academia Sinica (Taiwan), and Kenya Agricultural & Livestock Research Organization (KALRO, Kenya). In 2020, the IoC Itami lab was launched and a faculty staff was allocated.
