Sample National Science Foundation (NSF) Sponsored Activities with Japan or other East Asia & pacific Countries

1. Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP)
2. Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA)
3. NEES/E-Defense Collaborative Earthquake Engineering Research
4. International Rice Genome Sequencing Project (IRGSP)
5. Transpac2 Project
6. Materials Network
7. East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes for U.S. Graduate Students (EAPSI)

Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP)

Sponsors: NSF/GEO in U.S., and MEXT and JAMSTEC in Japan
Websites: http://www.iodp.org/, http://www.jamstec.go.jp/chikyu/

The Integrated Ocean Drilling program is a long-term international effort to unravel the mysteries of the Earth�fs structure and history through analyses of marine sediments and rocks. Launched in October 2003, IODP is the product of collaboration between the United States and Japan. Currently, 21 countries participate in the program. The principal scientific themes of the IODP are: deep biosphere and sub-seafloor fluids and chemistry; processes and effects of environmental change; and solid earth cycles and geodynamics. Scientists participating in IODP will make use of three drilling platforms to further the scientific objectives of the program. Japan supplies the 210-meter D/V Chikyu, which can drill to seven kilometers beneath the ocean floor, penetrating the Earth�fs crust and reaching the mantle, far deeper than previously possible. NSF will provide a non-riser drill ship for shallower drilling objectives of IODP, and Europe will provide short-term �gmission specific�h drilling platforms for ice-covered oceans and shallow water zones inaccessible to the Japanese and U.S. vessels.

Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA)

Sponsors: NSF/MPS in U.S., and MEXT and NINS in Japan
Websites: http://www.alma.info/

The Atacama Large Millimeter Array project is an international partnership between Europe, North America and Japan, in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. ALMA, which will be the premier millimeter and submillimeter telescope in the world, is under construction in the Altiplano region of northern Chile. When completed in about 2012, it will comprise an array of up to 64 12-meter antennas, with an additional compact array supplied by Japan. ALMA will probe fundamental questions in astronomy such as the origins of planetary systems and the nature of early galaxies. NSF funds the project in cooperation with the National Research Council of Canada, by the European Southern Observatory and Spain in Europe, and by the National Institute of Natural Sciences in Japan.

Nees/E-Defense Collaborative Earthquake Engineering Research

Sponsors: NSF/ENG in U.S., and MEXT and NIED in Japan
Websites: http://www.nees.org/index.php
http://www.bosai.go.jp/hyogo/ehyogo/index.html

International Rice Functional Genomic Consortium (IRFGC)

Sponsors: NSF/BIO, USDA, and DOE in U.S., and NIAS, STAFF, and MAFF in Japan
Website: http://irfgc.irri.org/
http://rgp.dna.affrc.go.jp/E/IRGSP/index.html

Following the successful completion of sequencing of the rice genome by the International Rice Genome Sequencing Project (IRGSP), the international community of rice genome researchers has formed the IRFGC to take advantage of the sequence information in advancing research on rice. The IRFGC facilitates and promotes collaborations among rice researchers from around the world. As part of its mission, the Consortium holds an annual symposium. The most recent symposium was held in Tsukuba, Japan on October 15-17, 2007 (http://www.isrfg2007.com/). Previous meetings were held in Montpellier, France (2006), Manila, the Philippines (2005), Tucson, US (2004), and Shanghai, China (2003). US rice researchers supported by NSF, USDA and DOE are active participants of the IRFGC.

TransPAC2 Project

Sponsors: NSF/CISE in U.S., and MEXT, MIC, MAFF, KDDI in Japan, and APAN Network in Korea, China, Singapore, and Australia
Website: http://www.transpac.org/

Cyberinfrastructure is expanding avenues for research collaboration and the U.S. and Japan have been at the forefront of efforts to link researchers through the Internet. In April 2005 Indiana University in the U.S. and three organizations in Japan, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, National Institute of Informatics, and APAN, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to inaugurate TransPAC2, a high-speed international Internet service connecting research and education networks in the Asia-Pacific region to those in the U.S. via an underwater transpacific high-performance network cable. Funded by NSF, TranPAC2 builds on the success of TransPAC, also funded by NSF, and more than doubles TransPAC�fs 10 Gbps capacity while decreasing cost. TransPAC2�fs plan also includes an intra-Asia backbone network connection from Tokyo to Hong Kong and a connection to Singapore.

Materials World Network

Sponsors: NSF/MPS in U.S. and JSPS in Japan
Website: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=12820&org=DMR

Advances in fundamental materials research enable progress to be made across a broad range of scientific and engineering disciplines and technological areas with dramatic impacts on society. Continued progress in materials research is increasingly dependent upon collaborative efforts among several different disciplines, as well as closer coordination among funding agencies and effective partnerships involving universities, industry, and national laboratories. In addition, because of the growing interdependence of the world's economies, partnerships are important not only at the national level but from an international point of view as well. The National Science Foundation is working together with counterpart national, regional and multinational funding organizations worldwide to enhance opportunities for collaborative activities in materials research between US investigators and their partners abroad.

East Asia And Pacific Summer Institutes For U.S. Graduate Students (EAPSI)

Sponsors: NSF/OISE & NIH in U.S., JSPS in Japan, and counterpart agencies in Australia, China, Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, and Taiwan
Website: http://www.nsf.gov/eapsi

NSF recognizes the importance of helping ensure that future generations of U.S. scientists and engineers gain professional experience beyond this nation�fs borders early in their careers. To that end, NSF operates six East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes for Graduate Students with invaluable support from overseas partners such as the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). The institutes provide U.S. graduate students in science and engineering first-hand research experience in Australia, China, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, or Taiwan, as well as an introduction to the science and science policy infrastructure of the respective location, and orientation to the culture and language. The primary goals of EAPSI are to introduce students to East Asia and Pacific science and engineering in the context of a research laboratory, and to initiate personal relationships that will better enable them to collaborate with foreign counterparts in the future.

Some other areas with significant current activity include:

Polar Research
Sponsors: NSF/OPP in U.S. and NIPR in Japan

Nanotechnology: U.S.-Japan YoungResearcher Exchange Program
Sponsors: NSF/ENG in U.S. and MEXT & Nanotech Support Center in Japan

Cyber Security Workshops
Sponsors: NSF/CISE in U.S., and MEXT and JST in Japan

U.S.-Japan Joint Research on Advanced Integrated Sensor Technology
Sponsors: NSF/ENG in U.S., and MEXT and JST in Japan

Environment Liaison Group
Sponsors: NSF/GEO in U.S., and MEXT and MOE in Japan

NSF supports research and education collaborations with Japan across all fields of science and engineering. For additional information, see http://www.nsf.gov/oise and http://www.nsftokyo.org.