DATE2021.09.06 #Awards & Prizes

Professor Shin-ichi Ohkoshi is selected as a Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford

Prof. Shin-ichi Ohkoshi

Professor Shin-ichi Ohkoshi from the Department of Chemistry has been selected as a Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford. Professor Ohkoshi was nominated by several departments at the University of Oxford, as well as national institutions in the UK and prominent researchers in Europe. Following a meeting at Magdalen College, the University of Oxford, he was elected to be a Visiting Fellow. The University of Oxford, which is the oldest university in the English-speaking world, has produced more than 50 Nobel laureates and has been ranked number one in the World University Rankings for six consecutive years. Magdalen College is one of the prestigious colleges of the University of Oxford, and is a well-known historic college that was founded in 1458. It is an academically strong college, selecting visiting fellows from among the most distinguished scholars in the world each year, offering them the opportunity to conduct research as a member of the college. In the past, Erwin Schrödinger was also a Fellow of Magdalen College and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics during his tenure.

Professor Ohkoshi was selected as the Visiting Fellow for his highly-regarded research on phase transition phenomena, which has resulted in the discovery of numerous new materials. Based on his novel molecular designs, Professor Ohkoshi has developed magnetic metal complexes that exhibit new phenomena, such as humidity responsive magnets, light-induced spin-crossover ferromagnets, chiral photomagnets, magnetization-induced second harmonic generation, and photoswitchable superionic conductors. Furthermore, he developed the world’s smallest hard ferrite magnet using an epsilon-type iron oxide (ε-Fe₂O₃). This magnet demonstrates both a very large coercive field and high millimeter wave absorption frequency, which has had a significant impact in applied fields. These findings were reported worldwide by BBC News and the material was displayed at a special exhibition at the Science Museum in London, UK. Recently, he proposed a novel magnetic recording methodology based on ε-Fe₂O₃, which was featured in The Economist. Professor Ohkoshi is also an advocate for “heat-storage ceramics,” a concept he created after his discovery of lambda-trititanium-pentoxide (λ-Ti₃O₅), the first metal oxide to exhibit light-induced phase transition and to store heat energy for a long period of time. This finding was reported worldwide by Agence France-Presse (AFP) and gained a lot of interest. Professor Ohkoshi’s research achievements have resulted in more than 380 academic publications, 140 review articles and 280 patent applications, and has earned academic acclaim worldwide.

Congratulations to Professor Ohkoshi on this achievement and we look forward to his continued success.

（Associate Professor Yoshinori Yamanoi, Department of Chemistry）