Message from the Editor-in-Chief: Professor Takayoshi Kobayashi

Two decades have passed since the first year of the 21st century. The speed of the development of sciences and technologies are growing ever faster today than in the previous century. The field of science is expanding, and the structure of science is becoming ever richer. Because of this expansion and fine structure growth, researchers may lose themselves in the deep forest of the ever-increasing frontiers and subfields being created. This open-access journal, Applied Sciences, was started to help all scientists conduct their own research into the growth of these frontiers by breaking down barriers and connecting the many subfields in order to cut through this vast forest. These functions will allow researchers to see these frontiers and their surrounding (or quite distant) fields and subfields, and give them the opportunity to incubate and develop their knowledge even further with the aid of this multi-dimensional network.