National Institute of Informatics

Global Liaison Office

Emmanuel Planas, Deputy Director

Introduction

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (MEXT) holds:

Inter-University Research Institutes under 4 Groups:
National Universities (Public)
- The University of Tokyo (Todai)
- Kyoto University (Kyodai)
- Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokodai, Titech)
- …
National Universities (Private)
- Keio
- Waseda
- …

The National Institute of Informatices: Some History

May 1976: Research Center for Library and Information Science (RCLIS) is established at the University of Tokyo
April 1986: National Center for Science Information Systems (NACSIS) is established, with the reorganization of the Center for Bibliographic Information, at the University of Tokyo
April 2000: National Institute of Informatics - NII established as National Research Institute from the reorganization of RCLIS and NACSIS
April 2002: NII joins ** the Graduate University for Advanced Studies - SOKENDAI**
- to open a Ph.D Program as Department of Informatics
April 2004: NII becomes member of the Research Organization of Information and Systems (ROIS)

NII Mission and Figures

The National Institute of Informatics (NII) is the “Inter University National Research Institute” dedicated to Informatics.
Around 350 researchers
- 72 full time Professors
- 40 Specially appointed Professors
- 100 Specially appointed Project Researchers
- 140 Visiting Researchers
Around 150 Clerical and Support staff
130 “local” Graduate students:
- 100 from Sokendai
- Also from Tokyo University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Waseda University, … (as many NII Professors are involved in their Graduate Schools)
NII is an Internationalized institute:
- 90 foreign researchers among “Specially appointed Researchers” and “Visiting Researchers”
- 40 foreign researchers each year coming through GLO MOU/non-MOU Grants
- Circa 50 annual talks from overseas colleagues at NII, ex.:
- 140 foreign Ph.D. and Master students per year via NII International Internship Program

NII activities

NII has three main activities:

Research
- 4 Research Divisions
- 6 Major Research Centers (LLM, Big Data Mathematics, Medical Big Data, …)
- 1 Industry-Academia Collaboration Center
Graduate Education
- Affiliation to Sokendai Graduate University
Service/Operation for research
- 10 Service and Operation Centers

Education

Sokendai: The Graduate University for Advanced Studies
- Sokendai is the Graduate School
  - Inter-University Research Institutes (ROIS) association
- 1103 Professors, Associate Professors and Assistant professors
Sokendai Schools
- School of Multidisciplinary Sciences
  - Department of Informatics (NII):
  - 30 Professors, 21 Associate Professors, 13 Assistant professors
  - 92 Ph.D. students (2024)
  - 49% foreign students (2024)
  - Some NII GLO Internship foreign students continued on a Ph.D. course at Sokendai
  - Career follow-up: Universities or Research Institutes: 56%, Companies: 34%, Others: 10% (2024)
  - 6 fields of study for the Ph.D. program in Informatics:
    - Foundations of Informatics
    - Information Infrastructure Science
    - Software Science
    - Multimedia Information Science
    - Intelligent Systems Science

Operation: Serving the Scientific Community - Open Science

NII plays a key role in Japan and overseas in providing operating infrastructures for global open data management
The current RCOS frameworks covers Management, Storage and Discovery of Research Data.

Open Science

SINET6: Very high speed network
- 2023/10/30: World record of 1.2Tbps for optical signal transmission with over 1Tbps data transfer in field trial
- 100 Gbps => 400 Gbps network for scientific data exchange in Japan
- Interconnectivity to overseas Giga networks
- 1000 Universities and Research Institutes interconnected through Japan
- Support for Academia Services like Eduroam, Libraries, Publication Databases.
- Support for Science and Services like Telemedecine, Earth behavior, Earthquake observation, Astronomy - Solar eruption observation, …

JAIRO+CiNii: Japanese Institutional Repository Online

Operation: Open Science: Examples

G7 Japan meeting - Sendai Science and Technology Ministries Meeting - May 12-14

G7 Open Science Working Group (OSWG)
NII was asked by the Cabinet Office to showcase how Japan is involved in Open Science

Today+Tomorrow’s Symposium

The Japanese Government is requiring that by 2025, all research data involving public funding should be managed as Open Science data.
NII is deeply involved in the design of a general framework for Open Science Data Management
NII holds today (Oct 8th) and tomorrow a symposium about this enormous project

Research Divisions

Principles of Informatics
- Mathematical Informatics
- Intelligent Informatics
- Quantum Information
- Mathematical Logic

Information Systems Architecture
- Information Network
- Computer Architecture
- Software infrastructure
- Software Engineering

Digital Content and Media Sciences
- Foundation of content management
- Text and Language Media
- Pattern media
- Human and Knowledge media

Information and Society
- Information use
- Science Information
- Information Public Policy

1. Principles of Informatics Research Division

Research to discover new principles, theories and methods in informatics, and extend our goal to pioneering the frontiers to try and achieve a paradigm shift in informatics.

Mathematical Informatics: Numerical analysis, numerical linear Algebra, Graph coloring problems in discrete math, Structural graph theory, Fast algorithms for solving large scale problems, data structure, data mining, etc. | Ex: Yuichi YOSHIDA | Takeaki UNO
Intelligent Informatics: Machine learning for semantic annotation, Machine Learning for Discrete Mathematics, Text mining, Ontology eng., Information extract., Data mining, Human robot interaction, Inference and knowledge representation, Construction multi-agent systems, Knowledge sharing system, Application of AI to legal reasoning, Community support system, Development e-learning environ., Engineering ethics, Semantic web, Research on ubiquitous and mobile networks and their applications, on Delay/Disruption-Tolerant Networks (DTNs) etc. | Ex: SUGIYAMA
Quantum Information: Quantum Information/computation, Quantum optics, Photonic quantum information systems, Security of quantum key distribution schemes, quantum simulation using optical semiconductors etc.
Mathematical Logic: Lambda calculus and formal grammar, Type theory for classical logic, Linear logic, Type theory and computational complexity, etc. | Ex: Katsumi INOUE

2. Information Systems Architecture Science Research Division

Research into the architecture and systems behind computers, networks and other forms of hardware and software

Network architecture: Internet traffic measurement & analysis, Cybersecurity, anomaly detection, mobile IP communication|Ex: Kensuke FUKUDA
Information Network: Network Traffic modeling and analysis, Dynamic resource optimization technologies for multi-layers network, Context aware& mobile computing network Privacy protec &security techno.,wireless ad hoc and sensors network etc. | Ex: Hiroki TAKAKURA
Computer Architecture: Parallel computing, Grid, Cloud computing, Computer system networks, large scale HPC, processor architecture, Memory architecture, Human Interface, etc. | Ex: Kento AIDA
Software infrastructure: Optim. of XML query lang.,Extensible distributed Op.Syst., Functional programing, Parallel programing Dependable software construction, Bidirectional graph transformation, Extensible distributed OS, Middleware for ubiquitous, Mobile& distributed computing, Programing language , Functional programing etc.| Ex: Megumi KANEKO 1 2 | Ichiro HASUO | Fuyuki ISHIKAWA | Taro SEKIYAMA
Software Engineering: Software testing, source code analysis, dependable software, Model checking Agent oriented software eng., Autonomous agents and Multi agents systems Ubiquitous computing, software engineering, Formal methods, Dependable VSLI system implementation based on asynchronous circuit technology, Component-based and model driven software, High Level synthesis of asynchronous circuits, middleware for open wireless sensors network, Software arcitecture/self adaptive systems etc. Ex: Yusheng JI 1 2

3. Digital Content and Media Sciences Research Division

Research into methods of analyzing, generating, storing, using and processing text, images and various other content and media from theories to actual systems

Foundation of content management: Technology and systems for multimedia content security, Service oriented computing, Data management for video corpus analysis ,Optimization for casual queries data base, Data and text mining scalable association for huge corpus access, Informatics association, Data sharing and its metadata management, etc. | Ex: Katsusuna YAMAJI
Text and Language Media: :Information retrieval and integration of heterogeneous data, Identification/ linkage of text information, Language media and interface, Research on techniques for utilizing web information, synthetic parsing, semantic parsing etc.|Ex: Junichi YAMAGISHI | Akiko AIZAWA
Pattern media: Video analysis, Retrieval and knowledge discovery based on broadcast video archives, Image retrieval, Video mining, Advanced video search engines, Automatic modeling of 3 D objects, Computer vision, Digital archives for cultural heritage, Earth and environment informatics, Physic based object shape and reflectance modeling, image video coding and streaming, etc.| Ex: Shin’ichi SATOH 1 2 3 | Imari SATO
Human and Knowledge media: Integration of user’s context in real and virtual world , Understanding multimodal interaction, Multilingual multimedia semantic management ,Multimodal interaction ,Multimodal communication, Interactive information gathering,/retrieval, Personal communication and interaction in semantic Web environment, Life like characters and avatars, Participatory science and collaboration in the 3D Internet, Automatic content creation, Human-agent interaction, etc. | Ex: Frederic ANDRES | Helmut PRENDINGER 1 2

4. Information and Society Research Division

Interdisciplinary research combining information and systems technology with human and social sciences for a society in which the information world merges with the real world

Information use: Designing collaborative learning environment, Mathematical logic, Motor coordination in communication, Similarity search for 3D models, Evaluation of information access technologies, Cross lingual information access, Term extraction for text corpora, Union catalogue data base construction and usage, Development of next generation information system, Speech-gesture coordination|Ex: Isao ECHIZEN
Science Information: Science and technology policy studies, Bibliometric research for measuring research levels and identifying research trends, Grant in aids role for promotion of basic research, Statistical study of change of research environment, University-industry-government relations,etc | Ex: Yuan SUN
Information Public policy: Social and political consequences of ICT use, Critical growth factors of E-commerce and E-money, Digital commerce, Intellectual property rights lifecycle management system, Relation ICT/humans, S&T for society, network Policy for broadband society, Social capital theory | Ex: Ichiro SATOH

Some Awards

Research Centers and Services

Major Research Centers: strategic research centers on a global topic
Industry-Academia Collaborations
- Center for Advanced Mobile Driven Research (CAMDR)

Service and Operation Centers for Research

Shonan Meetings - Overview

Dagstuhl Seminar style conference
- First class researchers meeting
- Conference facilities
- Shonan Village - Miura peninsula[
Next Planned Seminars

Japanese French Laboratory in Informatics (JFLI)

The Japanese-French Laboratory for Informatics (JFLI)
- created on January 1^st, 2009 as an International Research Laboratory (IRL)
- became an International Joint Unit (UMI-3527) on January 1^st, 2012
French partners: CNRS, Sorbonne University
Japanese partners: NII, University of Tokyo, Keio University
5 research topics
- Quantum Computing
- Artificial Intelligence
- Network and Cybersecurity
- Foundations of Informatics
Current Directors: France: Prof. Philippe Codognet, Japan: Prof. Kae Nemoto.
5 French researchers, 24 Japanese host researchers, 7 Associated researchers
Publications: 130 in French Repository HAL

International Cooperation Policy

The Global Liaison Office (GLO) mission is to foster NII international research exchanges towards excellency
At GLO, we promote bottom-up researcher to researcher and team to team research exchanges.
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreements are established at the sine qua non condition that at least one seeding collaboration research project involves researchers from NII and from the future partner
Starting from these seeding research projects, we formalize the cooperation at the institutional level, signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with partners.
MOU Agreements are signed for a period of 3 to 5 years
The renewal of the MOU is subject to the continuation of the initial research project or the introduction of new research project collaborations.
Once the MOU Agreement signed, the Global Liaison Office supports:
- Further Researchers exchanges beyond the seeding research projects
- Master/ Ph.D students internship stays

Examples of collaboration with Germany

RWTH Aachen
University of Augsburg
DFKI
University of Freiburg
Georg-August University Göttingen
University of Potsdam

Saarland University
University of Konstanz
Technical University Berlin
Technical University Munich
Technical University Braunschweig

Examples of collaboration with UK

The Alan Turing Institute
University of Bath
University of Bristol
University of Cambridge
Cardiff University
University of Edinburgh

Imperial College London
University College London
Newcastle University
Open University
University of Oxford

Collaboration with France

Auvergne University: LIMOS, ISIMA
Grenoble Alpes
Grenoble INP
Lens: CRIL
Lyon: ENS Lyon
Lyon: Université Claude Bernard - Lyon 1
Lyon: INSA
Nice: Côte d’Azur Université
Nice: EURECOM

Paris: CNRS
Paris: INRIA
Paris-Sorbonne: LIP6
Paris-Saclay: LISN
Rennes: IRISA
Nantes: LS2N
Toulouse: INP ENSEEIHT
Toulouse: Université Paul Sabatier: IRIT

Examples of collaboration with North America

USA	Canada
Carnegie Mellon University University of Washington ICSI - University of California Berkeley Viterbi School - University of Southern California - Los Angeles University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign Indiana University University of Michigan Dearborn New Jersey Institute of Technology	Simon Fraser University University of Alberta McGill University Polytecnique Montreal York University - Lassonde School University of Waterloo

Examples of collaboration with Southern Asia and Australia

Australia	Southern Asia
Monash University University of Melbourne Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University of Sydney DATA-61	National University of Singapore Hanoi University of Science and Technology - SoICT VNU-University of Engineering (Hanoi) VNU-HoChiMinh - University of Science and University VNU-HoChiMinh - University of Information Technology Chulalongkorn University

Global Liaison Office - International Cooperation

NII MOU Grant

Funded stays at NII for NII overseas researchers’ collaborators from MOU Partners
- Confirmed researchers up to 2 months funded by GLO (+ possibly more days funded by NII researcher’s budget)
- Post-Doctorates up to 2 months for working on a specific project
- Ph.D. Students up to 4 weeks, when coming with their supervisor
NII researchers visits to their MOU Partners Collaborators (up to 2 months)
Return airfare + per diem
Around 40 researchers supported each year
NII Internal calls: January and July

NII MOU Grants - Comments

Key action for MOU partner researchers is to contact his NII colleague with whom you would like to collaborate.
- the NII researcher will apply internally to the MOU Grant at NII for his overseas colleague
It is preferable that researchers end their stay before end of March (end of Japanese fiscal year).
There is a possibility for researchers from non-MOU institution to be invited by their NII collaborator, but the application is more strict:
- leading researcher
- possibility to further sign a MOU with this new institution
- < 2 months

Germany: DAAD-IFI–NII Post-Doctorate Program for German young doctors

Special Agreement between DAAD¹-IFI and NII since 2009
- 1::DAAD = Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst = German Academic Exchange Service
Current program has been renewed until June 2029
We are welcoming Postdoctorate researchers from German Universities at NII.
For a stay between 3 months to up to 2 years.
This program is for young (<= 4 years after graduation) German Ph.D. holders and non-German PhD. holders having a special German residence permit.
Postdoctoral researchers can work on their own research projects.
Postdoctoral researchers benefit from the mentorship of a NII researcher.
If they already have a supervisor in Germany, the research program can be built in accordance between a supervisor in Germany and the NII mentor.
Postdoctoral researchers receives a competitive fellowship funded by DAAD-IFI.
They are also provided with some research money.
Postdoctoral researchers can enjoy the NII International Framework (> 100 Partners).
- they can apply for getting Master’s and PhD students working in their own team through the NII International Internship Program.
DAAD-IFI has a supplementary internship program to which PhD. and Master’s can apply and can be used for staffing the Postdoctorate’s team.
Contact: Prof. Emmanuel Planas planas@nii.ac.jp.

NII International Internship Program

NII International Internship Program
- We welcome from MOU partners: Master’s and PhD. students
- For a stay in a NII research team: 3 to 6 months
- To work on a research topic chosen among a list proposed by NII researchers
- Around 140 students per year
- The student receives a per diem
- NII just does not fund the flight ticket
- Research is in English
2 calls sent to our MOU Partners per year (April and September)
Between 60 and 70 internship students accepted per call

Internship Call- How it works

There are 2 calls a year: April + September
First step: GLO sends an Internal call for research topics among NII researchers (supervisors)
Second step: after validation, the research topic list is sent to all MOU partner institutions referees
Third step: MOU partner student selection
- NII referee person at the MOU partner distributes the call to her/his staff and students
- Students are asked to contact directly NII supervisors and talk together about the possibility of working on a research topic
  - Each candidate can select a maximum of 3 topics.
- Candidates apply through your NII referee at your university
- NII referee submits to GLO 2 or 3 (depending on the call) selected students
  - No direct application from candidates will be accepted
Fourth Step: Each NII supervisor ranks candidates interested in his/her topic
Fifth Step: Following students profiles and wishes, supervisors ranking, and according to the budget, the GLO Committee (around 10 professors + GLO Acting Director) selects the final list of awardees ; then NII Intl. Team informs partner Institutions

Internships Call - Some Hints

Internship students have to remain affiliated to their home institute during the whole internship stay period.
The Japanese Government prevents us to welcome students and staff who had some previous affiliation to a reduced list of universities available on this link https://www.meti.go.jp/english/press/2022/1104_002.html
There are 2 calls a year: April + September (see http://www.nii.ac.jp)
Candidate students are required to contact directly the NII researchers (supervisors) to talk about the research topics you would want to apply for.
Candidates should send their transcripts of marks.
Candidate students and rank carefully 3 topics
- the order of the topics is important because the GLO Committee tries to stick as much as possible to your wishes
- we recommend that you rank 3 topics even if only 1 really appeals you: this is important because you multiply your chances to come to the NII

Some Research topics offered by NII researchers

2024 1st Call topics

Practical Information

Perdiem of ¥5,700 /day (around ¥170,000 month) and will have a basic health insurance
The plane ticket is not provided by the NII
Accommodation cost in Tokyo ¥60,000 to ¥150,000/month depending location in Tokyo
- http://www.sakura-house.com/en, (most popular)
- https://www.azalea-house.info/guid
- https://www.airbnb.com/tokyo-japan/stays
- https://www.tokyoroomfinder.com/
- http://japan.accommodationforstudents.com/searchform.asp
- http://www.tokyocityapartments.net/
- http://www.oakhouse.jp/eng/apartment
- http://www.jafplaza.com

Outside restaurant lunch set ~ ¥1,000 ($/€6-7)
Outside restaurant dinner ~ ¥2000/2500
Cinema ¥2,000
Metro Ticket ¥160 minimum and varies with distance
The working language is English at NII
Many seminars/lectures are offered by visiting researchers and open to Interns

… ありがとうございます。　Thank You!

Email: planas@nii.ac.jp
NII home: https://www.nii.ac.jp/en/
NII Faculty list: https://www.nii.ac.jp/en/faculty/
NII Research Centers: https://www.nii.ac.jp/en/research/centers/
NII Summary: https://www.nii.ac.jp/en/about/upload/NII_summary2024_en.pdf

National Institute of Informatics

National Institute of Informatics NII - Greetings

National Institute of Informatics NII - Overview

Introduction

The National Institute of Informatices: Some History

NII Mission and Figures

NII activities

Education

Operation: Serving the Scientific Community - Open Science

Operation: Open Science: Examples

G7 Japan meeting - Sendai Science and Technology Ministries Meeting - May 12-14

Today+Tomorrow’s Symposium

Research at NII

Research Divisions

1. Principles of Informatics Research Division

2. Information Systems Architecture Science Research Division

3. Digital Content and Media Sciences Research Division

4. Information and Society Research Division

Some Awards

Research Centers and Services

Shonan Meetings - Overview

Japanese French Laboratory in Informatics (JFLI)

Global Liaison Office - International Relations

International Cooperation Policy

Examples of collaboration with Germany

Examples of collaboration with UK

Collaboration with France

Examples of collaboration with North America

Examples of collaboration with Southern Asia and Australia

Global Liaison Office - International Cooperation

NII MOU Grant

NII MOU Grants - Comments

Germany: DAAD-IFI–NII Post-Doctorate Program for German young doctors

NII International Internship Program

Internship Call- How it works

Internships Call - Some Hints

Some Research topics offered by NII researchers

Practical Information

… ありがとうございます。　Thank You!

National Institute of Informatics

National Institute of Informatics NII - Greetings

National Institute of Informatics NII - Overview

Introduction

The National Institute of Informatices: Some History

NII Mission and Figures

NII activities

Education

Operation: Serving the Scientific Community - Open Science

Operation: Open Science: Examples

G7 Japan meeting - Sendai Science and Technology Ministries Meeting - May 12-14

Today+Tomorrow’s Symposium

Research at NII

Research Divisions

1. Principles of Informatics Research Division

2. Information Systems Architecture Science Research Division

3. Digital Content and Media Sciences Research Division

4. Information and Society Research Division

Some Awards

Research Centers and Services

Shonan Meetings - Overview

Japanese French Laboratory in Informatics (JFLI)

Global Liaison Office - International Relations

International Cooperation Policy

Examples of collaboration with Germany

Examples of collaboration with UK

Collaboration with France

Examples of collaboration with North America

Examples of collaboration with Southern Asia and Australia

Global Liaison Office - International Cooperation

NII MOU Grant

NII MOU Grants - Comments

Germany: DAAD-IFI–NII Post-Doctorate Program for German young doctors

NII International Internship Program

Internship Call- How it works

Internships Call - Some Hints

Some Research topics offered by NII researchers

Practical Information

… ありがとうございます。 Thank You!

… ありがとうございます。　Thank You!