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Education Program

Educational Aspect

The COE program will be used to spur the further development of our interdisciplinary COE education courses, nurturing researchers eager to explore new fields. Along with this, the integrated doctoral education program and dual degree program launched by the Institute in fiscal 2006 will be carried on and enhanced, creating an internationally attractive doctoral education program.

This nurturing will not stop at research capabilities. Doctoral dissertation subject presentations, summer schools, an overseas student exchange program, a co-adviser system and a doctoral review advisory system will be introduced to produce professional PhDs who possess initiative, creativity and international communication skills. This will help to resolve the problems that Japan has had with postdoctoral employment and how to strengthen corporate research and development.

Research Aspect

The Bio-Frontier Center established by the 21st Century COE program will be used to advance a creative interdisciplinary research model grounded in the Institute's "monozukuri" culture of making things. With respect to bionetworks, emphasis will be placed on three areas, used to form three clusters. (1) Analysis of mechanisms (basic research relating to the regulation of gene expression, biological signaling and recognition, development and differentiation, evolution of organisms), (2) Development of analysis technology (development of magnetic nanoparticles, fluorescent probes, high-throughput quartz oscillators, quantum Hall devices, etc.), (3) Systematic promotion of biomedical applications and extensions (development of new functional materials, drug delivery systems based on chemical biology, applied research aimed at next-generation medical treatment). The three clusters encompass basic and applied research and can be expected to generate mutual synergies.

Research assistants will take part, and young assistant professors will be employed, on a cluster-by-cluster basis, to support creative interdisciplinary type research. Joint research meetings will be held periodically where a vigorous exchange of information and opinions will be used to focus on problems and to work out technological and methodological strategies to reach solutions and further research through close ties, regardless of whether such research ties are within Japan or cross-border. Applied research efforts will be promoted jointly with enterprises.