Important Notice
This project was closed on 31 March 2023.
Thank you for your contribution.
Appeal for Support
The three chemistry and life science departments in the School of Engineering (namely the Departments of Applied Chemistry, Chemical Systems Engineering, and Chemistry and Biotechnology), together with the Department of Bioengineering, seek to formulate new areas of inquiry in chemistry and the life sciences, while at the same time nurturing a new generation of personnel who will use these fields to spearhead social innovation.
A major renovation is now underway at the Faculty of Engineering Building No. 5, which for many years has been our base of operation. Although the budget for this renovation project was provided by the government, the only improvements scheduled under the current plan will be to reinforce the building and to replace the aging electrical and plumbing infrastructure. Although this renovation represents an excellent opportunity to provide facilities to offer lectures and educational content that meets the needs of the new era, doing so is not feasible with the funds available in the current budget, and at present we can only maintain the old lecture rooms in their current state.
In the four departments listed above, the department chairs of have been leading in-depth discussions on a variety of questions, asking “What is needed to nurture students who will go on to formulate new areas of academic inquiry and play leading roles in chemistry and the life sciences in a With-/Post-Corona society?” and “What functions should our renovated lecture rooms and research spaces be equipped with to achieve these goals?”
As a result, we have concluded that it will be necessary to update the lecture rooms with the latest models of desks and chairs, and to equip them with next-generation technologies that will effectively integrate on-site and online lecture delivery methods, with the additional functionality for establishing virtual connections between multiple lecture rooms at will. We have also determined the need to establish what we are tentatively calling the Center for Creative Chemistry for the Future, a facility that will enable young researchers to engage in the creation of new areas of inquiry in chemistry and the life sciences. The Center will provide a common experimental and lounge space pre-equipped with a basic research environment that will provide strong encouragement for multiple groups of young researchers to collaborate with and stimulate each other's research through free and open-minded exchanges. Additionally, in terms of organizational management, we are planning to put in place a framework that will give young researchers the freedom to be able to set and concentrate on their own research agendas. In this way, we would like to put in place an environment in which undergraduate students, graduate students, and early-career researchers can freely engage in creative research without constraints. This will be one of the first such initiatives of its kind to be put in place at an organizational level in chemistry and the life sciences at the University of Tokyo.
It is our sincere hope that likeminded individuals and organizations who share the above aims will assist us by contributing to the realization of what we believe to be an ideal educational and research environment.
L-R
Takao Someya, Dean of the School of Engineering
Hiroyuki Noji, Department of Applied Chemistry
Atsuo Yamada, Department of Chemical Systems Engineering
Tsutomu Suzuki, Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology
Ryo Miyake, Department of Bioengineering
Project Overview
To further the cultivation of chemistry professionals who will contribute to social innovation, our first priority will be to put in place lecture rooms and other facilities that will exemplify a lecture style suited to the With-/Post-Corona society. Once these improvements are in place, we will continue to solicit further donations to put them to the best possible use to cultivate young researchers.
■ Lecture Rooms No. 51–57 in the Faculty of Engineering Building No. 5 will be converted to state-of-the-art lecture rooms equipped with the latest in information technology.
These state-of-the-art lecture rooms will meet the needs of the With-/Post-Corona society by enabling simultaneous support for online and on-site classes, as well as the creation of virtual lecture theaters by connecting multiple lecture rooms together. These state-of-the-art facilities will enable us to hold large-scale lectures and host larger research meetings and conferences, thereby expanding opportunities for the development of younger scholars.
■ The Faculty of Engineering Building No. 5 will house the Center for Creative Chemistry for the Future (tentative name).
The tentatively named Center for Creative Chemistry for the Future will be a cross-departmental facility designed to promote creative research by early-career faculty members based on their own ideas. It will provide a common lounge and research space equipped with a basic research environment to accommodate multiple groups of younger researchers. Through this initiative, we will also discover and nurture a new generation of faculty members who will play leading roles in the fields of chemistry and the life sciences in future.
Project Leader
Takao Someya
Dean of the School of Engineering
