Hyper-Kamiokande Experiment to Begin Construction in April 2020

Last week at the 7th Hyper-Kamiokande proto-collaboration meeting, a statement was issued by the University of Tokyo recognizing the significant scientific discoveries which the planned Hyper-Kamiokande experiment would enable.

It states that, based on these exciting prospects, the University of Tokyo will ensure that construction of the experiment will begin in 2020. Hyper-Kamiokande now moves from planning to a real experiment. 

The Hyper-Kamiokande proto-collaboration welcomes this exciting endorsement of the project and the boost it will give to increasing even further the international contributions and participation in the experiment. Introducing the statement, Professor Takaaki Kajita, Director of the Institute for Cosmic Ray Research at the University of Tokyo and 2015 Nobel Laureate in Physics, pointed out that the Japanese funding agency MEXT has included seed funding for Hyper-Kamiokande in its JFY 2019 budget request. He illustrated with many examples that it is standard in Japan for large projects to begin with a year of seed funding, and said that in any case the University of Tokyo commitment meant that Hyper-Kamiokande construction will begin in April 2020. 

The Hyper-Kamiokande Proto-Collaboration will now work to finalize designs, and is very open to more international partners to join in this far-reaching new experiment. 

Links:

University of Tokyo statement regarding the Hyper-Kamiokande experiment

Related Links:

Hyper-Kamiokande official website

Research contacts

Professor Masato Shiozawa

The University of Tokyo Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, and Next-generation Neutrino Science Organization

Tel: +81-0578-85-9611

E-mail: masato@icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Professor Francesca Di Lodovico

Queen Mary University of London

Tel: +44-020-7882-6061

E-mail: f.di.lodovico@qmul.ac.uk