Osaka Prefecture University’s “Research Institute for the 21^st Century” was established in February, 2007 to promote active and creative collaborative research across our university’s many diverse fields of academic and scientific studies. From April, 2009, it has been renewed and reorganized into a more flexible entity, the “Research Organization for the 21^st Century” (RO-21) which is divided into three main groups of laboratories.
   Group I) Independent laboratories that carry out research initiatives from funds or gov’t grants individually obtained or awarded.
   Group II) Laboratories overseen and supported by the university president which focus on research topics deemed strategically important.
   Group III) Laboratories overseen and supported by the university president which surveys new research themes from diverse fields deemed strategically important and which also employs outside researchers for education, training and collaborative work.
   The Research Organization for the 21^st Century aims to advance pioneering and challenging investigations into research which will contribute to sustainable scientific, technological, and cultural development, thus attracting continuous support and funding to further encourage innovation and creativity. In recent years, dramatic changes in the environment and needs of society have called for an even higher level of scientific and technological breakthroughs. To meet these new challenges, Osaka Prefecture University has adopted a new Tenure Track employment system to recruit outstanding researchers who have been screened by an international panel of experts for its Nanoscience & Nanotechnology Research Center. We hope to contribute to the 21^st Century as a center of highly advanced R & D as well as a functioning think-tank for local as well as global communities and industries.
   We will also continue to expand and strengthen our commitment to facilitating international cooperation and collaborations that will benefit our global society. We hope for your kind and continued support. Thank you very much.