Nobel Winner Kitagawa Calls for Funds for Basic Research

Stockholm, Dec. 8 (Jiji Press)–Kyoto University professor Susumu Kitagawa, among the three co-winners of this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry, has called for long-term financial support for basic research at a press conference at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. Asked about Japan’s research support system at the conference in the Swedish capital Sunday, Kitagawa referred to his country’s 10-year funding system for basic research. But it takes around 25 years for basic research to produce results and put them to practical use, he said, stressing that it is basic research that really needs long-term financial support. Co-winner Omar Yaghi, professor at the University of California, Berkeley, spoke about the development of metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs, for which this year’s chemistry prize was awarded. He emphasized that the world is in an era of gas economy, mentioning MOFs’ capabilities of capturing and concentrating gases in ways never before possible. Kitagawa attended the press conference wearing a tie with MOF drawings on it. In an interview with Jiji Press later, Kitagawa said that MOFs “can be utilized in many ways, such as controlling gases and removing smells.” A shift from the current economy, based on underground resources such as oil, to a gas economy would be beneficial to Japan, which heavily relies on imports for its resources, he continued. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]