Division of Transdisciplinary Sciences
The Division of Transdisciplinary Sciences' mission is to elucidate the fundamental mechanisms and develop new concepts of the natural world. Research with this mission is crucial for scientific development and will lay the foundation for technological revolution and industrial applications.
You may associate the word "foundation" with research in conventional academic fields, such as physics, chemistry, biology, and mathematics. However, based on transdisciplinary approaches, the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences provides an environment where you can encounter knowledge in different academic fields while pursuing your specialties. Harnessing this environment, the Division of Transdisciplinary Sciences generates innovative ideas through new collaborations that transcend traditional academic boundaries. Moreover, our mission is to develop human resources that have such a mindset.
The Division of Transdisciplinary Sciences is home to three departments. The Department of Advanced Material Science mainly conducts research on materials; the Department of Advanced Energy treats various matters of energy; and the Department of Complexity Science and Engineering elucidates the complexity in multiple scales, including nano and the universe. A wide variety of laboratories in these departments work on creating new sciences every day through collaboration with researchers from diverse backgrounds.
Researchers in the Division of Transdisciplinary Science conduct cutting-edge research in the well-equipped research environment on the Kashiwa Campus. Meanwhile, we have developed close collaborative relationships with research institutes on the same campus, including the Institute for Solid State Physics, as well as institutions outside the campus, such as the National Institute for Materials Science, the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and the National Institute for Fusion Science. We expand the world of science and technology exploration by actively using shared large-scale facilities both within and outside the country.
Moreover, the Division of Transdisciplinary Science provides progressive education programs: The Nuclear Fusion Research Education Program develops human resources who lead global projects to realize fusion energy, a promising energy resource with abundant quantity and environmental friendliness. The Education Program for High-Dimensional Data-Driven Science seeks new methodologies and philosophies of imaging, simulation, and data analysis. The Deep Space Education Program develops human resources who can plan and realize valuable space explorations, integrating science and engineering.
Thus, we, the Division of Transdisciplinary Science, promote human resource development that fosters innovative science, free from conventional field mindsets, and conduct research with broad perspectives.
Takasada Shibauchi
Chair, Division of Transdisciplinary Sciences
Division of Biosciences
In the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences (GSFS), the Division of Biosciences covers diverse fields of life sciences, as if all life science sections interspersed on the Hongo, Yayoi, Asano, and Komaba Campuses are condensed in the Kashiwa Campus. The Division of Biosciences consists of two departments - the Department of Integrated Biosciences (IB) and the Department of Computational Biology and Medical Sciences (CBMS) - holding professors with various life science backgrounds. The faculties of both departments also include cooperating professors from laboratories outside GSFS, the Intra-university Cooperative Laboratories, and those from outside the University of Tokyo, the Inter-institutional Cooperative Laboratories. Closely cooperated with the Life Science Data Research Center (LiSDaC) in GSFS, we also attend to fostering literacy on data science. We eagerly accept students with diverse backgrounds and conduct unique research and education in various research fields.
Based on our school's motto, "Transdisciplinary Approaches," our mission is to integrate different fields beyond the boundaries that divide specialties. One of the educational programs shared with IB and CBMS is Internationalization Exercises (Short-term global program). IB has a partnership with Zhenjiang University, China, and CBMS has a partnership with the University of Lyon, France. Based on these agreements, we send students from and receive students in both IB and CBMS in each short-term exchange program. We also hold joint symposiums with these universities for the faculty and students for research exchange.
We cooperate on the Data Scientist Training/Educational Program (DSTEP) with LiSDaC as a common program in the Division of Biosciences for doctoral students. We emphasize recurrent education and make these programs available to part-time students and company workers interested in DSTEP.
Moreover, we recently began Seminar in the Aging Control Design in association with the Division of Environmental Studies, as an education program to develop transdisciplinary solutions to realize a society of healthy longevity.
IB tackles various bioscience questions, ranging from the most basic/pure to the most advanced/applied areas, in laboratories with far-reaching interests such as food, health, bioresources, diversity and evolution, crossing molecular, cellular, organismal and population/ecosystem levels, focusing on various organisms such as yeasts, plants, nematodes, insects, fishes, mice, non-human primates and humans, and utilizing various research tools, methodologies and approaches of "wet", "dry" and field studies.
The IB's Japanese name, sentan seimei kagaku, is meant to create a new research frontier. This is meant to be accomplished not through approaching an existing branch of a research field, but by making research unique. By creating new frontiers of own research field, others will join and follow. In this way, initial small field will grow into an influential large research area.
CBMS was established in 2015, integrating the Department of Medical Genome Sciences and the Department of Computational Biology, which specialized in medical science and bioinformatics, respectively. The CBMS aims translates the most up-to-date scientific findings such as those on gene expression mechanisms and biomolecule functions into the medical care practices to realize innovative medical treatment through accelerating data science.
The Medical Innovation Course in CBMS is unique in GSFS in conducting research and education on issues of ethics, intellectual property and laws relevant to scientific research and on social systems enabling novel scientific knowledge to be extended to medical-care and industrial practices.
Through the "Transdisciplinary Approaches" in research and education with the variety of bioscience projects in IB and of the medical science/bioinformatics projects in CBMS, the Division of Biosciences aims to contribute academic outcomes to the general public and nurture not only professional scientists but also competent people with researcher mindset and global viewpoint.
Koji Tsuda
Chair, Division of Biosciences
Division of Environmental Studies
The Division of Environmental Studies (formerly the Environmental Studies Department) was established in 1999. In its research and education programs, the Division aims at providing solutions to complex and diversified environmental problems through close collaboration among experts from different disciplines based on the core principle of "transdisciplinarity." We aim to shift from the science that merely pursues truth or principles by analyzing phenomena and events to a science that establishes a new academic field that encourages synthesis of the different components associated with complex environmental issues and postulates plausible approaches to conflicting issues.
The Division of Environmental Studies consists of six departments: Natural Environmental Studies; Ocean Technology, Policy, and Environment; Environment Systems; Human and Engineered Environmental Studies; Socio-Cultural Environmental Studies; and International Studies. These departments are not structured according to specific traditional disciplines. While having their own unique viewpoints and focus areas, they embrace multiple disciplines with the aim of treating various environmental issues in a holistic and comprehensive manner. Based on this structure, the Division of Environmental Studies aims at establishing environmental studies as a new academic field that will lead to the design and creation of the future environment through a transdisciplinary approach.
"Knowledge Explosion" represents how remarkable the ever-increasing speed of the evolution of intelligence and technology has become. In addition, the development of means to communicate information has greatly altered the quality of human life. Today's world has diverse needs for an affluent society and for the expansion of living space. On the other hand, global-scale social problems such as regional differences and economic disparities have become more evident. What is more, the global environment, notably the issue of climate change, has become a critical issue for all humankind. The problems that need solving extend spatially and temporally, and they are complexly intertwined. When we ponder the problems of the environment under such conditions, aiming for the optimization of a snapshot at each moment does not suffice. We must develop a clear image of the vision of an ideal future, and we must also consider rational and practical ways to connect the goals and the present moment through a seamless transition. Acknowledging the diversity of values and then discovering far-reaching optimized solutions is challenging; yet all the more reason for creating a new paradigm through transdisciplinarity beyond existing academic frameworks and for making this the mission of environmental studies and research.
The Division offers inter-department educational programs in addition to the individual curricula of the departments. They include the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science, a degree course in which all the courses are taught in English; and certificate programs such as the Minor Program in Sustainability Science; and the Integrated Environment Design Program. These programs are intended to provide students with the skills required for solving multi-tiered environmental problems through a broad perspective and for developing human resources capable of creating new industries based on the same outlook. The university-wide transdisciplinary educational program on Ocean Science and Policy is a good example of how integral interdisciplinary education is to the Division.
Internationalization is another important theme for the Division of Environmental Studies, with its emphasis on creating an environment where students from all over the world can study together by taking such concrete steps as increasing the number of lectures in English, providing more scholarships for foreign students, and providing various services to foreign students to support their living experience in Japan in addition to supporting their research and academic experience at The University of Tokyo.
The Division of Environmental Studies has a one- of-a-kind structure for research and education under the concept of "transdisciplinarity," and has gained a renowned position internationally as a center of excellence in the field of environmental studies.
Hiroshi Okuda
Chair, Division of Environmental Studies