Farewell Message from Che-Yu Chen

Our colleague, Che-Yu Chen, will leave iTHEMS on November 30, 2026, and join the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) in South Korea as a Young Scientist Fellow. We will all miss him and wish him the best of luck in his new endeavor.

Here is a message from Che-Yu:

Since joining iTHEMS in 2023, I have greatly benefited from its stimulating and exciting research environment. Through discussions with researchers from diverse backgrounds, I have been constantly inspired by how people from different fields can approach the same problem from different perspectives. At the same time, I have been fascinated by how often scientific questions arising in seemingly unrelated fields can be addressed using similar mathematical or physical approaches. This has been a truly unique and rewarding experience during my time at iTHEMS. In addition, I have had the opportunity to organize several workshops and intensive lectures, as well as attend numerous seminars. These experiences have been extremely fruitful and have significantly broadened my research horizons.

My time at iTHEMS has also been particularly special to me personally, as I became the father of twins in 2024. I’m truly grateful to have been part of iTHEMS during such an important chapter of my life. It was an extremely challenging period for me, and I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all the assistants, especially Chikako-san and Keiko-san, for their kind support and patience in answering my endless questions. I am also deeply grateful to RIKEN for allowing me to take a couple of months of childcare leave overseas, an opportunity that, as far as I know, remains uncommon not only in Asia but also in many other parts of the world. Furthermore, I sincerely appreciate the freedom and flexibility that iTHEMS has given me to balance my research responsibilities with family life.

Leaving Japan and joining IBS in South Korea marks the beginning of a new and challenging chapter in my life. Nevertheless, I will always cherish my time at iTHEMS, and I’m quite sure that I will return to visit from time to time!