Oct. 30, 2026
Team Director Hidetoshi Katori receives C&C Prize
Team Director Hidetoshi Katori of the Spacetime Engineering Research Team at the RIKEN Center for Advanced Photonics (RAP) has received the 2026 C&C Prize for “Pioneering Contributions to the Realization of the Optical Lattice Clock”.
The C&C Prize was established in 1985 and is awarded to distinguished persons in recognition of outstanding contributions to R&D activities in information processing technologies, communications technologies, electronic device technologies, and technologies integrating these fields, as well as to research in the social sciences related to advances in these fields. The C&C Prize is presented by the NEC C&C Foundation, a nonprofit organization. The Prize Ceremony will be held at the ANA InterContinental Tokyo on Monday, November 30.
In 2001, Katori proposed the concept of an optical lattice clock. Its subsequent realization enabled time measurements with a precision far surpassing that of conventional cesium clocks. Furthermore, he extended the application of optical lattice clocks to relativistic geodesy and spatiotemporal sensing, demonstrating their potential for use in high-precision time synchronization and positioning. He also spearheaded research and development aimed at making optical lattice clocks smaller and more robust for practical use, and in 2025, based on these results, Shimadzu Corporation created the world’s first commercial optical lattice clock. With this award, Katori’s achievements have been recognized as making a significant contribution to information and communication technologies that support precise control, positioning, and synchronization.
Katori said, “I am deeply honored to receive the C&C Prize. I am very pleased that the optical lattice clock has progressed toward practical application and has been recognized as a technology that can underpin information and communications. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the students and collaborators with whom I have conducted this research, the companies working on its practical application, and the many people who have supported my research over the years.”
“Accurate time,” he continued, “is the foundation of society, underpinning communications and positioning systems. Furthermore, optical lattice clocks can also serve as sensors that detect changes in the Earth by measuring differences in the rate at which time progresses due to gravity. I will continue my research to deliver high-precision time to society as a technology accessible to everyone, thereby contributing to the resolution of new scientific and societal challenges.”