Preface to the special issue on 21st century COE Program of Nagoya Institute of Technology

摘要

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan launched 'the 21st Century Center of Excellence (COE) Program' in the fiscal year 2002. This program is based on the competitive principle by an outsider evaluation committee, seeking to establish field-specific research and education sites within Japanese Universities at the apex of the world excellence. Nagoya Institute of Technology (NITECH) proposed a project to establish COE which is related to 'Ceramic Science', and accepted as one of the programs within the category of 'Chemistry and Material Science'. This program has been led by the former president of NITECH, Prof. H. Yanagida with his powerful management. The title of the adopted program is called as 'Word Ceramics Center for Environmental Harmony'.