New TRIUMF branch office bolsters Canada-Japan partnership in physics research

TRIUMF, Canada’s national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics housed at UBC, has launched a branch office in Japan, cementing ties with the nation’s high-energy accelerator cluster.

The Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Canada’s Minister of Science, announced the partnership between Canada and Japan this weekend as she unveiled the new TRIUMF branch office located at Japan’s KEK. Duncan was joined by dignitaries from both laboratories to perform the ribbon cutting, celebrating the research collaboration between these two hubs for subatomic physics research.

The new branch office, which is also shared with CERN, follows the recent signing of a new partnership agreement this December by Jonathan Bagger, Director of TRIUMF – Canada’s national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics and accelerator-based science – and Dr. Masanori Yamauchi, Director General of KEK – The High Energy Accelerator Research Organization in Japan. This agreement enhances research collaborations between the two labs to answer questions on areas ranging from the breadth and composition of the universe to topics closer to home, such as the properties of advanced materials.

“As world leaders in subatomic physics, TRIUMF and KEK have forged an extraordinary collaboration that continues to unlock new opportunities to advance this important field,” said Duncan. “I congratulate both organizations on this new milestone and wait in anticipation to see the strides in fundamental research that will undoubtedly come out of this new era of innovation and partnership between our two countries.”

"For decades, TRIUMF and KEK have been recognized internationally in the areas of subatomic physics, accelerator science and materials science,” said KEK Director General Masanori Yamauchi. “Through our growing partnership, we will continue to be global leaders in advancing these areas of research, as well acting as pillars of scientific co-operation.”

“The opening of this new branch office represents not just a strengthening of the partnership between TRIUMF and KEK, but also the importance of collaboration on the global scale,” said Bagger, TRIUMF Director. “I look forward to the leaps that TRIUMF and KEK will make together to advance discovery and innovation at home and abroad.”

TRIUMF and KEK have numerous shared projects in the areas of subatomic physics, accelerator science, and materials science. Current efforts include the T2K and Belle II experiments in Japan, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, and the proposed International Linear Collider The hope of this new office and indeed the new partnership agreement is to advance scientific discovery through enhanced bilateral collaboration.