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P R E F A C E

Director-General of NIMC

@This is the seventh volume of the NIMC Annual Review, a report on the research activities of the National Institute of Materials and Chemical Research (NIMC).
@NIMC has been conducting basic research of high originality, research closely related to social and industrial needs and advanced research which will form the basis of the industrial technologies of the next generation. The research fields cover a wide range of chemistry and material science and technology, including physical chemistry, analytical chemistry, organic and inorganic chemistry, photochemistry, catalysis technology, polymer science and engineering, organic, inorganic, and composite materials, and chemical engineering. Priority is currently placed on research and development in four principal fields: new materials, reaction processes, energy and the environment, and analysis and theory. In view of the increasingly global nature of issues, many research projects in all the fields, as well as the field of energy and the environment, are designed to help solve energy problems and environmental issues through the development of clean energy technologies, easy-to-recycle materials, and environmentally friendly production processes. The main strategic projects in the principal fields include photoreaction control technology, precision polymerization, environmentally harmonized catalysts, computational chemistry, intelligent composite materials, highly functional carbon and related materials, and supercritical fluid technology.
@About 340 regular researchers and more than 300 guest researchers from Japanese universities, private enterprises, and foreign universities and research laboratories work with NIMC research groups to carry out scientific and technological studies for the understanding of new phenomena and the development of innovative processes and materials. I hope that this Annual Review will help to promote collaboration between NIMC researchers and their colleagues around the world, and contribute to the progress in science and technology essential for the sustainability of society and industy in the new century.

March 2000

Dr. Masaaki Kubota
Director-General, NIMC

to Annual Review