Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI), Tokyo Institute of Technology

The Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) of Tokyo Institute of Technology, established in 2012, is a member of research centres of the World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI) program of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT). ELSI's mission is to discover the “origins of the Earth and life” through an integrated interdisciplinary approach that brings together top-level domestic and international researchers in fields such as Earth science, life science, and planetary science. ELSI investigates questions such as how Earth formed in the solar system, how life originated on Earth, and how life and the Earth arrived at their present forms. Furthermore, ELSI also considers how life might exist in other planetary systems based on this understanding of how Earth and life on Earth originated.

Message from the Director, Kei Hirose

How did the Earth form and what was the early Earth-like, how did life emerge and evolve in its early environment, and what does the answer imply for the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe? The Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) is a one-of-a-kind, internationally recognized, a world-class research institute established in 2012 to address these questions.

As a World Premier International Research Center (WPI Center) based at Tokyo Institute of Technology, our mission is to facilitate breakthroughs at the frontier of science by attracting and interacting with the best minds from around the world, to promote interdisciplinary research in Origins of Earth and Life Science, and to play a leading role in implementing and promoting administrative innovation and organizational excellence among universities in Japan.

ELSI has cultivated a multidisciplinary international community of researchers, integrating disciplines to study the Origins of Life within the context of the Origin of the Earth and other planets. ELSI hosts dozens of short- and long-term visitors to develop innovative ideas. We are committed to science education and also sharing our research with the general public. All are welcome to visit ELSI and join our quest to understand the origins of Earth and the life it supports.

Japan

Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI)
Tokyo Institute of Technology
2-12-1-IE-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku
Tokyo 152-8550, JAPAN

Asia/Tokyo

Contact info

Thilina Heenatigala
Director of Communications
PR Office
+81-03-5734-3163