Signing Ceremony between NINS and AS
In September 2005, Academia Sinica (AS) signed an agreement with National Institutes of Natural Sciences of Japan (NINS) to join the ALMA-Japan project. AS President Yuan T. Lee shakes hands with Prof. M. Ishiguro, ALMA-Japan project director representing
The ALMA project has three major international partners: North America, Europe, and Japan. The North American and European partners are responsible for the construction of the 12m Array (ALMA-baseline project), while Japan is responsible for the construction of the Atacama Compact Array (ACA; ALMA-Japan project). In September 2005, the Academia Sinica (AS) in Taiwan entered into an agreement with the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS) in Japan to join the ALMA project through the ALMA-Japan project. ASIAA has also been exploring a possible collaboration with ALMA-NA (North America). ALMA will be completed in 2012, and its expected lifetime is at least 50 years.