Akiko Kobayashi

Professor is a Japanese chemist born in Tokyo. She is the designer and creator of Ni(tmdt)2, the world's first single-component molecular metal. Staying at the university, she became a research associate, associate professor (1993), and full professor (1999). "for her contribution to the development of molecular conductors and the design and synthesis of a single-component organic metal". The metal in question is known as "Ni(tmdt)2", where "tmdt" is short for trimethylenetetrathiafulvalenedithiolate. This organic metal has unusual properties including the ability to exhibit metallic properties at just 0.6 of a degree above absolute zero. This material is paramagnetic and is attracted to magnetic fields at nearly every temperature below room temperature.

Additional honors include the Crystallographic Society of Japan Award (1998) and the Complex Chemical Society Award (2006).