First in Asia! Japan Awarded the Right to Name Element 113!

On Thursday, December 31, 2015, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) informed a Japanese research team that Japan has been awarded the right to name element 113. Element 113 is the result of experimental work conducted over many years at RIKEN’s Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science by Professor Kosuke Morita, who serves concurrently as a professor at the Faculty of Sciences of Kyushu University and as a group director at RIKEN’s Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science.

[Comment from Kyushu University President Chiharu Kubo]
As a member of Kyushu University, I would like to say how tremendously honored we are that the discovery of element 113 by Professor Kosuke Morita’s research team has been recognized with the granting of naming rights to Japan. Furthermore, on behalf of Kyushu University, I would like to express my heartfelt congratulations to Professor Morita.
We too feel proud of this tremendous achievement by Professor Morita’s team and I anticipate that our students will be inspired by the opportunities they have to study with a world-class academic of his caliber.

[Comment from Professor Kosuke Morita]
On behalf of my team, I would like to say how delighted we are that the product of our long years of experimental work at RIKEN has been recognized by an international organization, which has granted it a new seat at the periodic table. I would like to share my joy with all of our research partners and everyone who has supported and encouraged us in our work. I will continue to seek new elements in the future and will strive to ensure that this research contributes to education, research, and human resource development at Kyushu University.

For more information, please see http://www.riken.jp/en/pr/press/2015/20151231_1/

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