Vol.36 (Feb) 2026 | Article no.4 2026
Every year, the Physical Society of Japan (JPS) presents its Young Scientist Awards to young researchers to recognize their outstanding achievements early in their research careers. This year’s winners were recently decided by the board of directors of JPS, based on the recommendations of the selection committees established in 19 divisions of JPS. The maximum number of recipients from each division has been determined based on the number of talks given at the Annual Meetings of the past 3 years. Each winner is expected to give an award lecture at the next Annual Meeting of the JPS, which is scheduled for March 2026. The 2026 recipients and their research topics are listed below.
Syuhei Iguro (Nagoya University, Kobayashi-Maskawa Institute for the Origin of Particles and the Universe (KMI)).
“For precise predictions of b → c semileptonic decays and exact sum rules based on heavy quark symmetry”
Naotaka Kubo (Kyoto University).
“Correspondence between 3d supersymmetric gauge theory and quantum curves.”
Thanaporn Sichanugrist (The University of Tokyo).
“For proposing a novel method to search for dark matter using superconducting qubits”
Tomoya Iizawa (International Center for Elementary Particle Physics, The University of Tokyo).
“Search for pair production of third-generation leptoquarks decaying into a bottom quark and a τ-lepton with the ATLAS detector”
Go Ichikawa (Institute of Materials Structure Science, High Energy Accelerator Research Organization).
“Measurement of neutron whispering gallery states using a pulsed neutron beam”
Masato Kimura (Institute of Particle and Nuclear Studies, High Energy Accelerator Research Organization).
“Search for dark matter annual modulation with DarkSide-50”
Yoshimura Kenta (Department of Physics, School of Science, Institute of Science Tokyo).
“Construction of the fully self-consistent superfluid band theory and its application to neutron star crustal matter”
Rurie Mizuno (TRIUMF Centre for Molecular and Materials Science).
“Muon capture reactions: Probing highly excited nuclear states and particle emission mechanisms”
A. Sakaue (RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science).
“Candidate for the double Gamow-Teller giant resonance in 48Ca studied by the (12C,12Be(0+2)) reaction”
T. Okudaira (Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University).
“Enhancement of time-reversal symmetry violation in a p-wave neutron resonance of 139La(n,g) 140”
Shotaro Abe (Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, The University of Tokyo).
“TeV gamma-ray emission across the galactic center ridge with the CTA first large-sized telescope”
Sotatsu Otabe (Department of Physics, The University of Tokyo).
“Photothermal and nonlinear optical effects in the signal amplification system for a gravitational wave detector”
Tatsuya Matsumoto (Department of Astronomy, The University of Tokyo).
“General constraints on outflow from cosmic explosions”
Yuki Abe (High Energy Accelerator Research Organization).
“Evaluation of wakefield defects to nanometer small bea”
Wei, Tianyun (National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology).
“Study on laser-driven isotope ion acceleration and its application”
Takuma Okumura (Department of Chemistry, Tokyo Metropolitan University).
“High-precision X-ray spectroscopy of muonic atoms: From the QED test to discovery of few-electron highly charged muonic atoms”
Shinichi Sunami (Department of Physics, University of Oxford).
“Experimental investigation of universal scaling dynamics and novel phases of matter in bilayer 2D Bose gases”
Akito Kawasaki (OptQC Corp.)
“Generation and characterization of gigahertz-bandwidth optical quantum states at telecommunication wavelengths”
Hirohiko Tanaka (Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University).
“Study of convective cross-field transport enhanced under detached diverter conditions”
Hiroyuki Takahashi (Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University).
“Exploring detached plasma physics using electrodeless radiofrequency plasma”
Shota Suetsugu (Department of Applied Physics, The University of Tokyo).
“Unveiling topology and probing emergent quantum phenomena in quantum spin liquids”
Kazuki Nakazawa (RIKEN Center for Quantum Computing (RQC)).
“Microscopic theory of topological quantum transport phenomena induced by magnetic structures”
Chaojing Lin (Department of Physics, School of Science, Institute of Science Tokyo).
“Functional quantum circuits using quantum Hall chiral plasmons”
Seishiro Ono (RIKEN Center for Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences).
“The classification of topological superconductors based on symmetry indicators”
Fumiya Sekiguchi (Cryogenic Research Center, The University of Tokyo).
“Nonlinear dynamics driven by intense laser fields shed new light on the fundamental properties and novel phenomena in solid-state materials”
Kazuaki Takasan (Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo).
“Theoretical exploration of dynamical controls of material properties with light fields and currents”
Yuri Fukaya (Faculty of Environmental, Life, Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University).
“Theoretical studies on topological superconductivity and unconventional magnet–superconductor junctions”
Farid Labib (Research Institute of Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science).
“Experimental studies on the magnetism in quasicrystals and approximant crystals”
Shuichi Iwakiri (National Institute for Materials Science).
“Developing the new degrees of freedom and devices in graphene systems”
Mina Maruyama (Department of Physics, Institute of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba).
“Theoretical study of electric field effect on atomic layer materials”
Koudai Sugimoto (Department of Physics, Keio University).
“Theoretical studies on excitation spectra in strongly correlated electron systems via optical response”
Shuntaro Sumita (Department of Basic Science, The University of Tokyo).
“Theoretical proposal on exotic superconductivity coexisting/competing with a multipole order”
Hideki Narita (Research Center for Materials Science, Nagoya University).
“Symmetry control and functionality exploration in artificial superconductors”
Yang Zhuo (The Institute for Solid State Physics, The University of Tokyo).
“Hidden fine structure in the thermodynamic probing of Landau quantization at high magnetic fields”
Shunsuke Tanaka (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology).
“Experimental study of vibrational dynamics at surfaces and interfaces using ultrashort pulse lasers”
Takayuki Nakamuro (Department of Chemistry, The University of Tokyo).
“Electron microscopy-based quantitative analysis of crystal growth at the molecular level”
Takayuki Nagai (School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo).
“Development of ferroaxial and related physical properties by employing both experimental and computational approaches”
Yusuke Himeoka (School of Science, The University of Tokyo).
“Theoretical research towards elucidating the difference between life and non-life”
Hironobu Yoshida (RIKEN Pioneering Research Institute).
“Rigorous results of the ground state in the SU(N) Hubbard model and steady states of open quantum many-body systems”
Ryota Sakamoto (Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica).
“Uncovering the physical principles of symmetry breaking and energy conversion in active cytoskeletal systems through artificial cells”
Shinji Bono (College of Science and Engineering, Ritsumeikan University).
“Study on the structure and dynamics of soft matter droplets based on surface design”
Yuto Hosaka (Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization).
“Theoretical study of nonequilibrium transport phenomena induced by broken symmetries”
Hiroto Kono (National Museum of Nature and Science, Division of Science Research).
“Research on the formation process of condensed matter physics”
ASEAN Quantum Summit 2025 was sponsored by strategic partners from
1. Tier II sponsors: the Johor state government, the Ministry of Digital Malaysia, and Quantinuum;
2. Tier III sponsors: Yaqumo, Open Quantum Institute (OQI), the Center for Quantum Technologies (CQT), Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), Global Research and Development Center for Business by Quantum-AI technology (G-QuAT), and the Quantum STrategic industry Alliance for Revolution (Q-STAR); and
3. Tier IV sponsors: ABEX, the Quantum Technology Research Initiative Collaboration (QTRic), the Program Management Unit for Human Resources and Institutional, Development, Research and Innovation (PMU-B), SpeQtral Zurich Instruments, and Oxford Instruments.
ASEAN Quantum Summit 2025 was supported by stakeholders from
1. The Malaysian government: The Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia (MoHE), the Ministry of Digital Malaysia, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation Malaysia (MOSTI), the Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA), and the Malaysian Institute of Physics (IFM);
2. Local academia: UTMSpace, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Xiamen University Malaysia (XMUM), Universiti Malaya Center of Excellence Quantum Information Science and Technology (UM CoE QIST), and Malaysia Quantum Information Initiative (MyQI); and
3. International stakeholders and close collaborators, i.e., the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the National Institute of Metrology (Thailand), Nicolaus Copernicus University (Poland), the Center for Quantum Information and Quantum Biology (QIQB), The University of Osaka (Japan), the National Quantum Office (Singapore), the Quantum Technology Research Initiative Collaboration (QTRic, Thailand), the Quantum Computing Society of the Philippines (QCSP, Philippines), VNQuantum (Vietnam), the Indonesian Quantum Initiative (IQI, Indonesia) and BRIN-Q, Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA, Switzerland), the Open Quantum Institute (OQI, Switzerland), and AQSolotl (Singapore).
The authors read and approved the final manuscript.
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
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