Science and Technology

On November 10, Mr. KITAGAWA Katsuro, Assistant Minister, Director-General of the Disarmament, Non-Proliferation and Science Department, received a courtesy call from recipients of the International Science and Technology Center (ISTC) 25th Anniversary Award.

ISTC is an international organization established to support researchers and engineers engaged in research and development of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery in the former Soviet Union to participate in research and development projects for peaceful purposes. In recent years, the ISTC has been supporting scientists in the CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear) fields across various regions.

On the occasion of its 25th anniversary in 2019, the ISTC organized a commemorative paper award mainly for young researchers and experts from Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, ISTC member countries, as an anniversary project, and planned a program to visit Japan with the support of Japanese government as a supplementary prize. The program was originally scheduled in 2020; however, it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and has been realized this time.

During the courtesy call on Mr. Kitagawa, the awardees expressed that their visit to Japan was extremely meaningful, as they visited Japan's research facilities for advanced quantum and nuclear energy such as KEK (the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization), QST (The National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology), and JAEA (the Japan Atomic Energy Agency), and Hiroshima, and also expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to visit Japan.