Dr. Katsuhiko Ariga is the Director of Supermolecules Unit and Principal Investigator of World Premier International (WPI) Research Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS). He received his B.Eng., M.Eng., and Ph.D. degrees from the Tokyo Institute of Technology (TIT). He was Assistant Professor at TIT, worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas at Austin, USA, and then served as a group leader in the Supermolecules Project at Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). Thereafter, Dr. Ariga worked as Associate Professor at the Nara Institute of Science and Technology, and then became involved with the ERATO Nanospace
Project at JST. In January 2004, Dr. Ariga moved to NIMS. He was also appointed Professor at several Universities. His research field is based on supermolecular chemistry and surface science, including the boundary research areas of organic chemistry, physical chemistry,
biochemistry, and materials chemistry. His major interests are the fabrication of novel functional nanostructures based on molecular recognition and self-assembly, including Langmuir-Blodgett films, layer-by-layer films, and mesoporous materials.