Katsuhiko Ariga is the leader of the Supermolecules Group and the Senior Scientist with Special Missions, at the Research Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA) at the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), which he joined in 2004. He received his Ph.D. degree from the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1990. He is also a professor at the University of Tokyo. has made a decisive contribution to the emergence of nanoarchitectonics, a technology enabling nanocreation and programmed nano-organization of highly functional materials based on nanosized structural units such as groups of atoms or molecules. Accordingly, his research interests include supramolecular materials, molecular thin films (Langmuir-Blodgett films, layer-by-layer assembly), molecular recognition, sensors, drug delivery, nanocarbon materials, and so on.