Nobel laureate Ryoji Noyori, head of the Riken institute, intends to step down after a difficult year caused by last year’s botched stem cell study, sources close to the matter said.
Noyori, 76, won the 2001 Nobel Prize in chemistry and has been president of Riken since October 2003. He cited the length of his tenure at the state-backed institute as the reason for quitting, the sources said Friday.
Noyori has been leading efforts to reform the country’s leading research organization since researcher Haruko Obokata was found to have engaged in research misconduct when she published her attention-grabbing papers on the creation of so-called STAP cells.
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