KEK

KEK, the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, is one of the world’s leading accelerator science research laboratories, using high-energy particle beams and synchrotron light sources to probe the fundamental properties of matter. With state-of-the-art infrastructure, KEK is advancing our understanding of the universe that surrounds us, its mechanisms and their control.

KEK mission is:

• to make discoveries that address the most compelling questions in a wide range of fields, including particle physics, nuclear physics, materials science, and life science. People at KEK strive to make the most effective use of the funds entrusted by Japanese citizens for the benefit of all, by adding to knowledge and improving the technology that protects the environment and serves the economy, academia, and public health;
• to act as an Inter-University Research Institute Corporation, a center of excellence that promotes academic research by fulfilling the needs of researchers in universities across the country and by cooperating extensively with researchers abroad;
• to promote national and international collaborative research activities by providing advanced research facilities and opportunities. KEK is committed to be in the forefront of accelerator science in Asia-Oceania, and to cooperate closely with other institutions, especially with Asian laboratories.

Established in 1997 in a reorganization of the Institute of Nuclear Study, University of Tokyo (established in 1955), the National Laboratory for High Energy Physics (established in 1971), and the Meson Science Laboratory of the University of Tokyo (established in 1988), KEK serves as a center of excellence for domestic and foreign researchers, providing a wide variety of research opportunities. In addition to the activities at the Tsukuba Campus, KEK is now jointly operating a high-intensity proton accelerator facility (J-PARC) in Tokai village, together with the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA). Over 600 scientists, engineers, students and staff perform research activities on the Tsukuba and Tokai campuses. KEK attracts nearly 100,000 national and international researchers every year (total man-days), and provides excellent research facilities and opportunities to many students and post-doctoral fellows each year.