With this project, we will establish an internationally renowned research base for creating new devices with new functions. In addition, we will recruit highly motivated, high-quality candidates through our branding strategies. By exposing our students to Meijo University's world-class research on optical devices and encouraging them to participate in joint research with businesses, it will foster quality human resources who will play significant roles in society after graduating from the university. This will lead Meijo University to a great reputation and positive results in recruiting more promising candidates and increasing the brand value of Meijo University.

Regarding our research activities, in FY 2018 we will pursue our research by attempting to expand operating temperature ranges. In addition, we will utilize new technology of the crystal fabrication machine we introduced in FY 2017 to promote research that focuses on developing a multi-function device. We will also promote collaborative research with international institutions. As part of our branding strategy, we will continue our efforts from the previous fiscal year and enhance our website and showrooms, hold public symposiums, and hold lectures and demonstrations not only at elementary, junior high, and high schools, but for other audiences as well. In addition, for application research, we will disseminate information through university-hosted student exhibitions.

Through the utilization of our new crystal growth device and other innovations, we were able to achieve many research results related to tunnel junctions that were the world's first or the world's smallest of their kind. In particular, for low-resistance tunnel junctions, we announced our results at a symposium held by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology on May 16, 2018. Moreover, we have reported the results of our research to a large number of researchers. We have received 17 invitations to give lectures on our research results at various academic conferences and other gatherings both in Japan and abroad, and we have also given 40 oral presentations and 17 poster presentations. We have also submitted 10 patent applications, among other activities, and the pace of our research exceeds that of last fiscal year. We held a symposium on March 1, 2019 entitled “A New Material that Will Change the World” and have hosted joint lectures with members of neighboring communities, allowing us to share overviews of our research and activity results with the general population. With regards to application research derived from blue LEDs, the branding division was active in its publicity efforts. These included an on-campus exhibition hosted by students from the Department of Business Administration, a fun project supporting the Chunichi Dragons, and PR booth installations around campus. In the “2019 Ranking of Universities of Interest” published by Frompage Co., Ltd. in April 2019, our university claimed the top spot in the Chubu region for the fourth consecutive year, displaying its presence not only in the Tokai region, but the Hokuriku and Koshinetsu regions as well.

Evaluations of our FY 2018 projects were conducted both in interview and in written form, on May 17, 2019. For the document evaluation conducted by committee members, we earned a score of 84.4%, or "Excellent." For the interview evaluation, two reports were given. One was given by the Corporate Publicity Division on the university’s branding strategies and initiatives related to the dissemination of information; the other was given by Professor Tetsuya Takeuchi, Head of the Optical Device Research Center, on the FY 2018 results from the research division. Following their presentations, the committee members in attendance gave 7 votes for A and 1 vote for B, indicating that our achievements were held in very high regard.

An external evaluation of our FY 2018 projects was conducted on May 24, 2019, attended by members of the external evaluation committee, and selected from university researchers, engineers from other companies, and others from other industries. For the document evaluation, we earned a score of 84.6%, or "Excellent." Regarding the committee members’ findings in the document evaluation, they were pleased with our clear project objectives, the distinctive nature of the research we were pursuing, and our branding strategy concept and the results thereof. The results of our research were also described as among the best worldwide. We were also commended for producing clear results and achievements with regards to the suggestions made by last year’s external evaluation committee concerning efforts aimed at appealing to high school students, graduates, and others. However, they also pointed out the need for expansive and active industry-academia coordination, as well as the need for improvement in how to develop projects at a view of joint research coordination with international institutions. For the interview evaluation, two reports were given. One was given by the corporate publicity division on the university’s branding strategies and initiatives related to the dissemination of information; the other was by Associate Professor Motoaki Iwaya, a member of the Optical Device Research Center, on the FY 2018 results from the research division. Based on these reports, the committee members in attendance gave 3 votes for A and 2 votes for B, with the majority indicating that our achievements were held in very high regard. With regards to research, the committee members also highly rated our use of tunnel junctions to produce world-class results. They also recognized a project in which we send students to Germany and other efforts for international collaboration as a fine effort. Regarding branding, they pointed out that the improvements in our brand power were showing and that they were hoping for this to produce secondary effects. That being said, they pointed out some issues with website utilization and the concreteness of performance indicators. In accordance with our project expansions in FY 2019, we agreed that the research branding project implementation committee needs to address the issues and aim for further improvements going forward.

Total funds for FY 2018 were 40.05 million yen and actual expenditures were 38.667 million yen. The percentage of the budget used was 96.5% (including the budget for three research applications). The main usages were as follows:

① Research costs: 30.941 million yen (purchase of liquid nitrogen: 8.232 million yen; overseas traveling expenses [U.S.A., Italy, Taiwan]: 1.283 million yen; gallium nitride substrates: 1.566 million yen; and others)
② Personnel costs: 4.766 million yen (PD salary for one person)
③ Publicity costs: 2.96 million yen (branding project PR booth installation costs: 1.85 million yen; overseas academic journal publishing costs: 286,000 yen; and others).