Welcoming Prof Susumu Kitagawa

Professor Kitagawa has been appointed Nanyang Visiting Professor at the School of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), where he will collaborate with MSE faculty and researchers to explore new approaches to the design and discovery of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs).

Photo Credit: Kyoto University iCeMS

Awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his pioneering contributions to the development of MOFs, Prof Kitagawa helped establish a class of porous materials whose structures and properties can be tailored for different functions.
His appointment at MSE, NTU brings this foundational expertise into a growing area of materials research: the use of artificial intelligence and automated experimentation to navigate complex materials design spaces and accelerate scientific discovery.

Exploring MOFs through AI-enabled materials discovery

Prof Kitagawa will participate in research activities under Singapore's AI-for-Science (AI4S) Initiative, a S$120 million national programme by the National Research Foundation Singapore.

He will collaborate with Prof Alex Yan and Nanyang Assistant Professor Wu Dongshuang from NTU MSE to explore innovative approaches to advancing next-generation MOF technologies.

Prof Yan and Prof Wu are part of an interdisciplinary team under an AI4S Challenge project developing MOITAI, an AI-integrated platform for designing better material interfaces.

The platform brings together robotics-assisted experimentation, real-time materials characterisation, generative AI, physics-informed neural networks and closed-loop optimisation. By allowing experimental results to continuously inform subsequent predictions and experiments, the approach aims to accelerate the search through vast materials design spaces.

MOITAI is being developed to discover interfacial materials for applications including batteries, hydrogen technologies, smart windows and chemical sensors.

Prof Kitagawa's expertise in MOFs will add a complementary dimension to this AI-enabled research environment, helping the team navigate the vast number of possible MOF structures and interfaces more systematically.

“The opportunity is to bring deep scientific understanding of MOFs together with AI-enabled materials discovery,” said Prof Alex Yan. “This can help us identify promising candidates more intelligently, accelerate experimental validation and guide the design of MOFs and their interfaces towards specific functions.”

Building new connections through research

Beyond the immediate research collaboration, Prof Kitagawa will contribute to joint publications, public seminars, outreach and mentoring activities with faculty and students during his appointment as Nanyang Visiting Professor.
His appointment also supports MSE's broader efforts to strengthen international academic exchange and build connections across the global materials science community.

"We want MSE to be the institution where scientists in the field, across all levels, from around the world can find the complementary expertise to pursue ambitious ideas together," said Prof Ng Kee Woei, Chair of NTU MSE. “We look forward to the exchanges and new connections that Prof Kitagawa's time with MSE will bring.”

Professor Kitagawa's appointment comes as MSE researchers take part in two projects under the national AI4S Initiative, spanning advanced energy systems, sustainable materials processing and critical mineral recovery.

By bringing together established scientific expertise with emerging AI-enabled approaches to materials discovery, the collaboration seeks to explore new directions for MOF research while strengthening connections between MSE researchers and the international materials science community.

Details of upcoming seminars and other opportunities to engage with Professor Kitagawa's visit will be shared with the community when available.