The University of Massachusetts Amherst and Hokkaido University (HU) have announced the recipients of the 2026 UMass–Hokkaido Joint Research Seed Fund to four collaborative research teams. The funded projects support interdisciplinary research addressing global challenges in food safety, sustainable energy, advanced materials, and intelligent agriculture, while strengthening long-term research ties between the two institutions.
The Joint Research Seed Fund is designed to catalyze new and emerging collaborations, support faculty exchanges, and generate preliminary results that position teams for competitive external funding. This year’s awardees reflect the growing depth and breadth of UMass–Hokkaido collaboration across science, engineering, and computing.
UMass Amherst – Associate Professor Matthew Moore with HU – Professor Tomoyasu Aizawa, entitled "Understanding the Influence of Viral Capsid Structure and Dynamics on Inactivation and Persistence"
Abstract: Foodborne viruses are the leading cause of foodborne illness globally. One challenge to their control is the fact that the main agent in many commonly used disinfectants can lack ideal efficacy against these viruses. The influence of viral structure on susceptibility to inactivation remains poorly understood. This proposal solidifies a collaboration between a food virologist (Dr. Moore) and a protein structure expert (Dr. Aizawa) to better understand the influence of viral structure on inactivation.
UMass Amherst – Associate Professor Reika Katsumata with HU – Associate Professor Takayuki Nonoyama, entitled "Lignin-Derived Carbon Materials for Sustainable Energy Storage"
*Also funded also by HU
Abstract: This project supports an emerging international collaboration between UMass Amherst and Hokkaido University to develop sustainable, biomass-derived carbon materials for energy storage. Integrating hydrogel science, lignin chemistry, and rapid thermal annealing, the team will transform underutilized lignin-based gels into porous carbon electrodes. The project will enable researcher exchange, generate preliminary electrochemical data, and position the collaboration for future external funding in sustainable energy and advanced materials.
UMass Amherst – Professor Edward Bryan Coughlin with HU – Professor Toshifumi Satoh, entitled "Advancing Fundamental Research in Polymers and Soft Materials Towards Applications Through Industrial Sponsorship"
Abstract: The world is highly reliant on the use of polymers. Future challenges require that sustainable syntheses of polymers be developed for reducing environmental impact and promoting material circularity. This collaboration of experts at UMass and HU with Industrial partners will design polymers that are chemically upcyclable, biodegradable, or can be repurposed. Strategies include green chemistry synthesis, use of renewable feedstocks, and innovative polymerization processing to develop high-performance functional materials with minimal deleterious ecological footprints.
UMass Amherst – Assistant Professor Donghyun Kim and HU – Associate Professor Ling Xiao, entitled "Development of Intelligent Agricultural Robots"
*Also funded also by HU
Abstract: This project establishes an international partnership between the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Hokkaido University to develop intelligent agricultural robots. The collaboration integrates high-level vision–language–based perception and decision-making, which determine task understanding and planning, with low-level robotic control and motion planning, which ensure safe and robust execution. Together, these capabilities enable autonomous crop detection, navigation, and harvesting, while fostering long-term collaboration through joint research and training.
Additionally, Hokkaido University awarded:
HU – Professor Hiroyuki Akinaga with UMass Amherst – Dev and Linda Gupta Professor Qiangfei Xia, for "UMA-HU Joint Workshop on Emerging Al Hardware"
Abstract: State-of-the-art Al hardware depends on brute force computation, leading to excessive size, weight, and power consumption, as well as raising sustainability and societal concerns. To address these challenges, the Pls propose a joint UMA-HU workshop, bringing together Pls,students, and ECRs to present ongoing Al accelerator developments and explore forward-looking topics, including neuromorphic computing. Industry partners, such as IBM and Rapid us, will participate to help pave the way for future large-scale Japan.
HU – Assistant Professor Milena Lama with UMass Amherst – Assistant Professor Melody Morris, entitled "Elucidation of Polyurethane Degradation via High-throughput Experimentation and X-ray Scattering"
Abstract: Polyurethanes are widely used industrial polymers whose disposal poses major sustainability challenges. This project establishes a new collaboration between HU and the UMA to investigate how polyurethane nanostructure influences chemical and enzymatic degradation. By combining probelabelled polymer synthesis, high-throughput degradation assays, and X-ray scattering–based structural analysis, the collaboration aims to generate fundamental insights that support future sustainable recycling strategies and long-term international research partnerships.