The Institute of Science Tokyo and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology launched a three-year collaboration on September 1, 2026, designed to strengthen academic and industrial ties between the two institutions. Leaders from both organizations met at MIT on September 8 to mark the partnership’s formal beginning.
Delegation and Official Launch at MIT
The visiting delegation included Naoto Ohtake, president and chief executive officer of Science Tokyo, and Jingo Kikukawa, director general of the Innovation and Environment Policy Bureau at Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). They were joined by Seiichiro Takahashi, consul general of Japan in Boston.
The delegation met with MIT leadership, including MIT President Sally Kornbluth, participated in a roundtable discussion with faculty research teams, and toured the MIT Center for Clinical and Translational Research. The initiative builds on more than 150 years of academic exchange that began when the first student from Japan graduated from the institute.
Curriculum Development and Educational Framework
At the center of the partnership is an educational component led by the MIT Sloan School of Management and administered through MIT Sloan Global Programs, focusing on entrepreneurship curriculum development.
The curriculum efforts also include designing Innovation Teams Lab courses tailored to Science Tokyo’s Visionary Initiatives in biomedical engineering. Collaborating entities include Science Tokyo’s Center for Startup Education and the Institute of Biomedical Engineering.
Exploratory Research Projects and Seed Funding
The collaboration funds three specific exploratory research projects administered directly through MIT departments. These projects involve MIT’s Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, and Microsystems Technology Laboratories.
On the Science Tokyo side, participating groups include the Laboratory for Zero-Carbon Energy, the GX Frontier Visionary Initiative, and the Next-generation Semiconductor Eco-system Co-creation Center. Additionally, the partnership establishes the MIT-Japan-Science Tokyo Seed Fund, which will be administered by MIT’s Center for International Studies to support ongoing exchanges and joint investigations.
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