Messages from the President
2026
Revision of MoU with National Cancer Center Japan (February 18, 2026)
President Gonokami signed a revised Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with President Hiroyuki Mano of National Cancer Center Japan to further consolidate the research infrastructure, technological capabilities, and expertise possessed by the two institutions, accelerate solutions to medical challenges with high societal demand, and enable the widespread utilization of results both domestically and internationally, including “pharmaceutical research and development and related fields.”
(From left) National Cancer Center Japan President Hiroyuki Mano, President Makoto Gonokami
Related link: RIKEN and National Cancer Center Japan revise Memorandum of Understanding to accelerate solutions to medical challenges
Video Message Sent for the Ceremony Commemorating the Final Run of RHIC (February 6, 2026)
President Gonokami sent a video message to the ceremony commemorating the final run of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) in the United States.
Collaborating with BNL since 1995, RIKEN has spearheaded spin physics research through the construction of proton polarizers and the large-scale PHENIX detector at RHIC. These efforts have deepened our understanding of quarks, gluons, and nucleon spin through the PHENIX, STAR, and spin programs, thereby contributing to advances in nuclear physics.
In the video message, President Gonokami expressed his deep appreciation for the dedication of all those involved in the RHIC project. He also referred to the central role of the RIKEN BNL Research Center (RBRC) as a hub of collaboration and to its contributions to the training of early-career researchers. Looking ahead to the Electron–Ion Collider (EIC) project being promoted by BNL, he highlighted future prospects for RIKEN–BNL collaboration aimed at elucidating multiscale quantum dynamics by connecting low-energy and high-energy nuclear physics.
Associate Laboratory Director Abhay Deshpande (left) during the screening of the President’s video message
Darío Gil, the U.S. Department of Energy's Under Secretary for Science (left) at the ceremony (Photo by Brookhaven National Laboratory/Kevin Coughlin)
Darío Gil, the U.S. Department of Energy's Under Secretary for Science (right) and Interim Laboratory Director John Hill (left) officially ended the operational era of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (Photo by Brookhaven National Laboratory/Kevin Coughlin)
Archives
For more information, please see:
- Makoto Gonokami's Curriculum Vitae