About LINK

The LINK is a joint laboratory established in 2014, governed by 3 partners: CNRS, NIMS and Saint-Gobain. The unit is hosted and located at the International Collaboration Center of NIMS, Tsukuba Japan (read Partners page for details).

This International Research Laboratory (IRL) is the 1st international chemistry laboratory created in Japan representing an innovative academic and industrial collaboration model between international researchers (read CNRS in Japan).

The 4 main tasks of LINK are as follows:

• Reinforcing material sciences relationship between French-Japanese academic and industrial communities ;
• Setting up joint basic research projects with researchers from multicultural backgrounds ;
• Ensuring education and support career development of young researchers ;
• Creating a pathway from basic science to societal benefit through industrialization.

Since its beginning, LINK has acted as a “catalyst,” facilitating the development of sustainable projects and fostering collaboration across borders and cultural differences. This collaboration is not only based on social aspects but also on organizational characteristics, such as the academic versus industrial nature of the partners, which should be considered equally important as the academic outputs.

Over the past 10 years, LINK has published 120 scientific articles, secured funding from several projects with the French ANR agency, and engaged numerous postdocs, PhD students, and interns in its activities (see actual Members or Alumni).