Welcome to CPS. This is an international center open to all researchers in planetary science. We hope for the continuous expansion of CPS as a site where researchers from various fields and graduate students get together and create "something new". In addition to promotion of research in planetary science, we also aim to provide a site for fostering a wide range of human resources who are willing to aid development in the whole community of planetary science. We hope that a great number of researchers and graduate students will come here and support us in the achievement of our goal.

Prof. Junichiro Makino, Director of CPS

Planetary science is an interdisciplinary field that involves astronomy, earth science, and life science. The ultimate goal is to understand our place in the evolving universe. Progress in science and technology has deepened our understanding in each discipline. At the same time, however, this deepening has fractionalized planetary science. This has prevented us from grasping the overall picture.

The Center for Planetary Science (CPS) was founded in April 2007 as an academic institution open to all researchers with the purpose of integrating their knowledge of specialized disciplines. CPS coordinates international education and research activities by fostering interactions among researchers in different disciplines and by serving as a repository for knowledge of planetary science.

Researchers from various institutions take part in the activities of CPS. Our activities at CPS consist of five coordination groups (CGs):

• Education and Research CG
• Infrastructure CG
• International Cooperation CG
• Social Interchange CG
• Future Conception CG

Education and Research CG organizes the CPS International School of Planetary Sciences annually. In this school, internationally recognized researchers give top-level lectures on the frontiers of planetary science. Education and Research CG also promotes international exchanges of knowledge and gives assistance in hosting workshops and practical training courses. International Cooperation CG promotes international exchanges and creates strong ties among researchers in all fields of planetary science. Infrastructure CG stores knowledge acquired through CGs' activities and maintains informative infrastructure so that the knowledge is publicly accessible. One of the activities in Social Interchange CG is to host meetings with companies. In this way, we provide an opportunity to develop planetary science in a broader sense and to think about how we evaluate planetary science in relation to the general public. Future Conception CG supports all researchers in envisioning future developments in planetary science and promotes the talent of those who can produce the next generation's vision.

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