Serendipity Lab wins Good Design Award 2023

Serendipity Lab, led by Professor Keisuke Goda of the Department of Chemistry at the Graduate School of Science, the University of Tokyo, received the Good Design Award for 2023.

The Good Design Award, sponsored by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion, is an award for outstanding design in a wide range of fields, from industrial products to business models and event organization. It is the only comprehensive design evaluation and recommendation system in Japan, and the G Mark logo has garnered support since its establishment in 1957. In an age when design is needed to solve problems and discover new themes, the Good Design Award recognizes and honors the essence of design, regardless of its form.

“Serendipity” is a term coined in the 18th century for unexpected discoveries and encounters. In the history of science, many revolutionary discoveries were born from serendipity, such as Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin, Percy Spencer's discovery of the microwave oven, and Koichi Tanaka's discovery of macromolecular mass spectrometry. Serendipity Lab is an academic consortium of more than 160 researchers from around the world who are working to develop and apply the technologies that make serendipity possible in the life sciences and medicine. Although the group is most active in the Pacific region (Japan, China, USA, Canada, Australia, etc.), it has members in other Asian countries and Europe (Singapore, India, Germany, UK, etc.) as well. Another goal of the Serendipity Lab is to provide students and young researchers with opportunities for interdisciplinary research and to develop future global leaders. Since its establishment in 2018, the Serendipity Lab has published a total of 92 international co-authored papers, 35 of which have received top 10% citations.