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Department of Engineering

Superconductors: challenges and champions

Superconductors: challenges and champions

Leading minds from Japan and the UK met for a workshop on superconductivity at King’s College. 

We hope that this workshop has provided the catalyst for many fruitful collaborations between researchers from the UK and Japan in the future.

Dr Mark Ainslie

The Joint UK-Japan Workshop on Physics and Applications of Superconductivity (JWPAS) aimed to bring together a critical mass of world-leading superconductivity researchers from the two countries, encourage the exchange of ideas and scientific discussions and provide a platform for formal and informal collaborations in the future. The event was also an opportunity to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the opening of trade, scientific, cultural and diplomatic ties between the two countries.

A series of 44 talks discussed topics ranging from applications of superconductivity, including large scale, small scale and electronics; materials for superconductivity, such as bulk superconductors, iron-based superconductors and fullerides; and physics, such as superconductive properties and high temperature superconductivity. Meanwhile, two discussion panels sought to identify the most significant challenges in the field and identify potential solutions.

Panelists included Professor Junichi Shimoyama from Aoyama Gakuin University, Dr Kenichi Sato from Sumitomo Electric, Professor Damian Hampshire from the University of Durham, Dr Ziad Melham from Oxford Instruments Nanoscience, Professor Nobuyuki Yoshikawa from Yokohama National University, Professor Antony Carrington from the University of Bristol and Professor Ted Forgan from the University of Birmingham.

“We were extremely pleased with the number of high-quality presentations and the discussions pursued thereafter,” said Dr Mark Ainslie, Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow in the Department of Engineering’s Materials Engineering Group and co-coordinator for the JWPAS programme. “We hope that this workshop has provided the catalyst for many fruitful collaborations between researchers from the UK and Japan in the future.”

The workshop was organised on behalf of the Institute of Physics (IOP) Superconductivity Group and funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the DAIWA Anglo-Japanese Foundation, King’s College and the IOP, with additional sponsorship from Sumitomo (SHI) Cryogenics and SuperPower. 

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