President's Greeting
| The National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), as a leading institution for research on environmental issues from local to global scales, is continuing to emphasize integrated, interdisciplinary research and contributions to policymaking. In order to fulfill these functions, NIES is fostering issue-driven research on technologies and systems and their implementation in society. To facilitate the implementation of environmental research with long-term continuity prospects, and to a degree of excellence, the eight research fields which form the pillars of our institution have been designated. NIES has also designated the research centers which will be responsible for research in these fields and, by integrating fundamental and issue-driven research, is also actively implementing a tying up of these fields. Ten research programs are being implemented as a part of our issue-driven research. These have been classified as either Priority Programs, as necessitated by research topics requiring a speedy and focused response, or Advanced Programs, constituting research which tackles issues at the cutting edge of next generation research. We are endeavoring to optimize our research outcomes for these programs both by maintaining internal ties and - as a focal point for environmental studies in the region - consolidating our fundamental ties both domestically and internationally with institutions and researchers engaged in our field. To all of the above we have added Research on Disaster Environment, a new field of research which takes into account the impacts of the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011. This is being undertaken for the purpose of contributing to the recovery and restoration of the disaster zone via research on radioactive and disaster waste and other issues encompassed by the field of disaster environment, and includes field studies and site surveys - all of which make use of the accumulated knowledge and expertise available at NIES, as well as our extensive knowledge networks. To achieve our institute’s particular goals, we implemented a consolidation of our organizational structure under our current five-year plan (2011-2015). We place a particular emphasis on those parts of our organization responsible for research ties, with an emphasis on the Asian region, in order to implement research initiatives based on international agreements. We are also carrying out continuous evaluations based on the NIES research assessment criteria, to appropriately reflect the results of our research. OHGAKI, Shinichiro, D.Eng. President |
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