On November 19, 2025, President AWAGA was awarded an honorary doctorate (Doctor honoris causa) by the University of Edinburgh, located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, United Kingdom, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to research, education, and international activities. It is extremely rare for Japan to receive this honor.
He has pursued organic electronics longitudinally through a series of processes such as “material synthesis,” “basic physical property search,” and “device development,” and has achieved remarkable results in pioneering research on new device properties based on electron-lattice interactions and electron-electron interactions characteristic of organic conductors and magnets. These results have greatly contributed to the promotion of international collaborative research, such as the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research Grants (Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research and the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research) and the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (S/A) Grants, as well as the establishment of research centers and bilateral exchange projects (Japan-China joint research).
In terms of education, he has made outstanding achievements in research, education, and international studies, including serving as the dean of the Graduate School of Science and the Dean of the Institute for Advanced Study, Nagoya University, and as the director of the leading doctoral graduate school “International Education and Research Program in Green Natural Sciences”. In addition, in exchange with the University of Edinburgh, in addition to jointly promoting the research center formation project, we have made significant contributions to education through the establishment of joint degree programs and the acceptance of dispatched students.
These achievements were highly appreciated, and he was recommended by his long-time collaborator, Professor Neil Robertson of the University of Edinburgh. The award ceremony was held on the same day as the graduation ceremony, and in his acceptance speech, he expressed his gratitude for the strong relationship between Nagoya University and the University of Edinburgh, and in addition to the fact that the Tokai region, where Nagoya University and Toyota KOSEN are located, is an industrial cluster, and is close to “Ghibli Park”, which expresses the world view of Studio Ghibli’s works, if you visit, you can touch the essence of Japan manufacturing. You can also meet Totoro.” The charm of Nagoya and Toyota City, which are unfamiliar to Edinburgh students, was conveyed in a friendly manner, and a big applause was sent from the audience.
©2025 Andrew Perry
[President AWAGA signing an honorary doctorate. Left: Vice President Iain Gordon, Center: President AWAGA, Right: Professor Neil Robertson]
©2025 Andrew Perry
[President AWAGA receives an honorary doctorate]
©2025 Andrew Perry
[President AWAGA giving an acceptance speech and introduced Ghibli Park]