Greetings

It is my great pleasure to announce that the 31st International Symposium on Superconductivity (ISS2018) will be held this year, organized by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST). The ISS has been held annually since the first Symposium, which was held in 1988 after the discovery of copper-oxide-based high-temperature superconductors.

The last ISS2017 welcomed nearly 500 participants from 20 countries as the 30th anniversary of the ISS. Through a panel discussion in ISS2017, the participants discussed what the future ISS should be, and reached a consensus to hold ISS “annually” in Japan and possibly in Asian/Oceanian cities as well. This year, ISS2018 is going to be held at Tsukuba, Japan.

Another important conclusion of the discussion was “Outreach”. From now on, the ISS, as a representative of the superconducting R&D community, will pay a lot attention to “Outreach of superconducting technologies”. I hope that ISS2018 will be the first occasion to boost the “Outreach” to one of the main subjects. Additionally, we will also strengthen the connection with “Superconductivity School”, since it is also an important issue for the community to cultivate young human resources.

The AIST inaugurated a consortium on superconductivity “the Applied Superconductivity Constellations of Tsukuba (ASCOT)” in 2016. ASCOT is composed of 21 private companies and 6 national universities/institutes (including AIST). ASCOT aims to develop superconducting technologies into practical products and systems applicable in our society, and to foster young researchers who may contribute to the future of this technology. In this context, ASCOT supports ISS as well.

I sincerely hope that this symposium will gather many scientists, engineers, students, corporate executives and other participants from all over the world, and will facilitate fruitful discussions to promote superconducting technologies.

March 22, 2018
Toshihiko Kanayama
General Chair, ISS 2018