New talent: Asia-Pacific

The population of Asia has increased rapidly to reach 3.9 billion, corresponding to 54% of the world's population in 2014. The economy of the Asian region is also growing more rapidly compared with the rest of the world: the total GDP of Asian countries was 22 000 billion US$, which made up 29% of the whole world's GDP last year. This growth further accentuates Asia's remarkable contributions in the academic field. In view of this situation, the first “New Talent: Asia” themed issue of Dalton Transactions was published in 2011. The Guest Editor of the first issue, Prof. Masahiro Yamashita, highlighted in his Editorial the rapid growth in coordination chemistry in the Asian region by introducing the history of the Asian Conference on Coordination Chemistry (ACCC), held in Okazaki, Japan (1^st, 2007); Nanjing, China (2^nd, 2009); and New Delhi, India (3^rd, 2011).

During the last four years, two more ACCCs have been held, the 4^th in Jeju, Korea in 2013 and the 5^th in Hong Kong this year. At every subsequent ACCC, the number of countries and regions contributing to the ACCC international committee has increased. Presently, 22 out of the 30 countries and regions in Asia are represented on the international committee, suggesting the incessant development of coordination chemistry in Asia. Reflecting the current situation, publication of a second “New Talent: Asia-Pacific” themed issue was planned. It is my great honor and pleasure to have been nominated as the Guest Editor. For this occasion, I requested the members of the ACCC international committee to recommend young talented researchers to contribute to this issue, in addition to the general selection of possible contributors. I deeply appreciate the good recommendations of new talents from different countries and regions in Asia.

In the present issue, 35 papers have been included. These include many outstanding articles full of originality, which is the most essential quality in science. I believe that innovative scientific topics can result from totally novel ideas, which are often derived from a variety of personalities and cultures, as the history of science and technology has verified. Asia is a region with high potential for such creativity. I hope that you thoroughly enjoy the science of the Asian new talents presented in the articles in this issue.

Finally, I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to Dr Guy Jones of Dalton Transactions for providing me with this opportunity, and Dr Helen Lunn and Anisha Ratan from the Dalton Transactions Editorial Office for their great effort and work on this themed issue since the publication was first planned more than a year ago.

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