J-PARC (Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex) is a multidisciplinary research facility with a series of proton accelerators producing neutron, pion, kaon and neutrino beams. This infrastructure is used to investigate research questions in areas including nuclear and particle physics and materials and life sciences. J‑PARC has recently built biology and chemistry laboratories in which research will focus on producing deuterated molecules for use in neutron experiments, and this month held a workshop entitled “Deuterated Materials Enhancing Neutron Science for Structure Function Applications”.

Japan has a strong reputation in the field of deuteration science, most notably in the form of Professor Sajiki at Gifu Pharmaceutical University. In Japan, a deuteration science community is beginning to organise around existing expertise, and new research which will be done at the J‑PARC deuteration laboratories. The chemical deuteration laboratory at J‑PARC has a strong collaborative project with the chemical deuteration laboratory at the National Deuteration Facility, ANSTO (AUS), with exciting developments being made in the area of highly and selectively deuterated ionic liquids.

The Deuteration Network members welcome J‑PARC to the DEUNET. We are certain this will bring benefits to all of the members and their respective user communities, and we welcome the exciting collaborations we anticipate in the near future.