Project Objectives

I'm here to prepare a report on the Global COE Project Base. I'd like to hear from Professor Eiichi Nakamura, the project leader of “Chemistry Innovation through Cooperation of Science and Engineering.” First, could you please explain for me the meaning of "Cooperation of Science and Engineering" in regard to this project?

Professor Nakamura：

The School of Science and The School of Engineering move in fundamentally different directions in terms of turning out human resources. However, many activities being undertaken within the Faculty of Chemistry are the same as those undertaken at the Faculty of Engineering. Jokichi Takamine (who entered this university in 1873) was well known as the first graduate of the Imperial College of Engineering (the present-day Faculty of Engineering, University of Tokyo). He developed Takadiastase, a digestive enzyme for the stomach and bowels, and became a successful entrepreneur in Japan and the United States. He also later discovered adrenalin. He was both a researcher and an entrepreneur.

The flavor enhancer mentioned in the pamphlet about the Global COE was discovered by a professor in the Faculty of Science, wasn't it?

Nakamura：

Yes, in 1908, Professor Kikunae Ikeda of the Faculty of Science extracted the flavor enhancer, sodium glutamate, from seaweed. Summer 2008 will mark the 100th anniversary of this achievement. Less than a year after he first extracted sodium glutamate, he established his own company to produce this seasoning. Both Takamine’s and Ikeda’s companies are widely known. When he was teaching physical chemistry, the basis of science, Professor Ikeda always emphasized the great importance of applied chemistry. We can see through those two scientists’ achievements that the Meiji Era produced scientists who were capable of pursuing their interdisciplinary research in the applied and basic chemistry field whichever their major field is.

In the late 19th century and early 20th century, science and engineering were unified just like the two sides of a single sheet of paper, weren't they?

Nakamura：

Specialization advanced in the 20th century and special fields separated more and more, but now in the 21st century I think we have started to realize once again that chemistry is a single field.

I have written about cooperation between science and engineering, but they were originally unified, so I have only declared that, in my view, they should be reunited.

As I think you know, Michael Faraday, who discovered the law of electromagnetic induction, was conducting chemistry research when he isolated pure benzene in 1825. While Newton is famous for physics, he may have considered himself a chemist. In their times, physics and chemistry were not clearly distinguished from each other.

President Komiyama has often said that the fractionalization of studies advanced in the 20th century, making it difficult to see the overall picture.

Nakamura：

Specialization gradually advanced following the onset of the 20th century, and various areas became separated. However, 100 years later, those separate areas are gradually reuniting. In the 21st century, environmental problems and energy problems are appearing as unified problems involving electricity, physics, chemistry, and biology. In other words, various studies formed a harmonious whole in the 19th century, and became differentiated in the 20th century, but I think that the 21st century is generally a time when science and engineering are becoming harmoniously reunified. Therefore, cooperation between science and engineering is natural, and physical science, engineering, agriculture and pharmacy are all cooperating now.

Do you think the formation of all faculties and departments might need to be changed?

Nakamura：

No, I don't think so. It is necessary to create the foundation for specialties in undergraduate faculties and master courses. But when we get close to the leading edge of the most advanced research and contact points with society, the various fields will be harmonized because the objects of research have become complex. Therefore, the undergraduate students in each faculty study the basic knowledge for each specialized field, and young researchers such as graduate school students and postdoctoral fellows unify various areas to conduct research.

What kind of things does the chemistry field involve?

Nakamura：

Chemistry is directly related to various fields. It is related to physics, engineering, pharmacology and medical sciences. In the first stage, individual students must thoroughly learn the basics of chemistry, that is, the principles of the behavior of molecules, then, building on this foundation, they can choose their own new directions. I want young students to realize this when they study. On the other hand, incorporating this into the actual education system is difficult, but I want to actualize it within the next five years.

The objective of our project is to integrate two 21st century COEs carried out in the past five years, which are Frontier Chemistry Focusing on Molecular Dynamism　done mainly by the School of Science and Human-Friendly Materials Based on Chemistry by the School of Engineering, and based on this by taking a further five years to convey to young people what the ideal chemists of the 21st century should be through this 10-year project.

Directivity of education

The global COE is the project for carrying out the world's most advanced education based on the world's most advanced research. What are the principles and content of education of this project base?

Nakamura：

First, we have to consider the position of our project base. The statistics show that many of the graduate school students and postdoctoral fellows who have gathered here from inside and outside Japan, have later scattered throughout the world and become faculty members at universities. The percentages of Japanese who have completed doctoral courses and become university faculty members are about 70% from science courses and 60% from engineering courses. Many other Japanese who have completed doctoral courses have found employment in public organizations. The majority of postdoctoral fellows from foreign countries have also become university faculty members, or researchers employed by public organizations.

Many people who graduated from universities other than The University of Tokyo have entered chemistry-based graduate schools, and after completing their courses, have become university faculty members. Therefore, we must fully realize that quite a large number of graduate school students are carrying out the task of training the next generation. If we provide the wrong education here and produce people who have erroneous ideas, all future students will get wrong ideas. Our basic concept for education is that all our staff members must be conscious of the function of the university as a place where people who carry out the tasks of educating the next generation and conduct academic research gather from both inside and outside Japan.

By the way, recently, it has been said that postdoctoral fellows are having difficulty finding employment, but this is not true for those with doctorate specialties in chemistry regardless of whether that was studied through a science or engineering school. Thanks to the recovery of the economy, there is actually a shortage of postdoctoral fellows. About 30% of doctoral students obtain positions in universities immediately after they complete their doctoral courses. Postdoctoral fellows who have completed outstanding work in their subject areas usually get the positions they desire within two to three years. Chemical companies and pharmaceutical companies also hire people who have completed doctoral courses, and the employment of doctoral students who want positions with such enterprises is often determined while they are still studying. The fluidity of researchers is high. Seventy percent of the assistant professors and associate professors in our COE have transferred to other universities in the past five years.

What are the main educational principles regarding the role of graduate schools?

Nakamura：

In addition to reforming the course system, our principle is to train leaders. We want the generation aged 25 to 35, graduate school students, postdoctoral fellows and assistant professors to learn how to be independent and prepare to become independent.

Because of the national characteristics and social system of Japan, it is very difficult to decide how we should provide such guidance. In the American education system individual students energetically put forward their own opinions, saying “I think …” and the social system in the United States places a high value on this. Young Americans naturally learn to overcome self-consciousness and blaze their own trails. But in Japan, unfortunately, young Japanese are unable to develop this custom naturally, and the evaluation of self-assertion is not necessarily high in Japan. Many Japanese students hide behind others.

This is a very difficult problem to overcome then?

Nakamura：

There is no appropriate word in Japanese. What we need to do is expressed by the English word, “mentoring.” We can’t just leave them alone. I think it is necessary to appropriately guide them to independence. While they are graduate school students, I want them to learn how to become independent, and get ready to be independent.

The advantage of being in the field of chemistry is that it is not difficult to find employment. Immediately after students have obtained their doctoral degrees, they can become assistant professors and three or four years on they can become associate professors.

However, young researchers lack experience, so I think they need mentoring.

In concrete terms, what measures can you take toward this?

Nakamura：

English lessons for students are one example. We have been offering practical English lectures for students in doctoral courses since the first Frontier Chemistry COE project. We started this with the idea of helping them achieve independence. If they can’t communicate with in English, they won’t be able to make a living when they go abroad. I want them to cultivate an independent attitude and get out into the world. I don’t want them to feel that they can get good marks by studying English. This English course doesn’t offer credits toward graduation, and we haven’t made the English course compulsory. However, looking at the results so far, all students have been working hard.

That means they think that English is essential?

Nakamura：

Yes, I feel that we don’t need to teach them forcibly. I want to give lessons in response to the students’ desire to receive the lessons they need. Our university’s faculty members have been looking back at our previous educational efforts and reconsidering them.

We must consider what is necessary for students. One of our tasks is to provide a program for them with lessons that draw out students’ interest, lessons in response to their interests and lessons that make the students feel that the courses they have taken have been really good.

We have been able to initiate the chemistry English lessons in the 21st century COE thanks to the efforts of Professor Yamanouchi in the Department of Chemistry. Since this course was created, all students willingly attend lessons. This is one model for drawing out the potential desires of students.

What else besides the above?

Nakamura：

Since the 21st century COE was started as a project aimed at cultivating the spirit of independence, we have been sending doctoral students to important laboratories overseas for short-term study and research. Also, there are many excellent young chemistry-based researchers undertaking first-class work around the world. We started the “Overseas Lectureship” to send those young researchers on lecture tours to research institutes overseas. This is because we consider that the time when ordinary university faculty members traveled to the United States to study abroad as postdoctoral fellows and assist in the work of professors at U.S. universities is over. We think “studying abroad” should be undertaken in the period between undergraduate and postdoctoral students.

I want to create a system in which individuals who make efforts can develop their ability, rather than attempting to develop them evenly side by side as a unit.

By this I mean that we arrange our lessons so that students who want to go further and further ahead in their studies can do so and students who want to carry out in-depth studies can study intensively. In the undergraduate faculty courses, there is a stratum system in which students advance from the first year to the second and third years. Until now, the graduate school has provided a rather good assortment of courses and expanding the breadth of courses, but the course system by which we can actually feel that the studies go deeper in order from the basic level was not necessarily complete. There have been many courses that expanded laterally. Therefore we are now working to establish a course system by which students can advance according to their ability from the undergraduate faculties through master courses and doctoral courses. This actually means we’re creating a precise stratum system of courses.

When I was a graduate school student in a doctoral course, there were many lessons in which various professors introduced their research.

Nakamura：

“ A la carte” courses are useful after students have completed basic courses. In the Department of Chemistry, School of Science, at the time of Professor Iwasawa’s 21st century COE project, we created a system in which we prepared lessons including basic physical chemistry lectures, basic organic chemistry lectures, basic inorganic chemistry lectures and “a la carte” courses going beyond the levels of those lectures. The system is going relatively well. I intend to develop the structure of this system further.

I also hope to incorporate some specific fields into the graduate school lessons, for instance, providing places where students can study theoretical computation, structure analysis and laser science, or incorporating lessons that give the students technical guidance. I want to create a triple-layer structure of lessons: lessons to teach basic principles and basic techniques, lessons on the application of basics and lessons on the technology for responding to today’s demands. Some students may study widely in various fields, and others may select only the things they need in specific fields and carry out in-depth studies.

I plan to create a system that will respond to such varied needs.

Generally speaking, I think that the relationship between individual lessons provided in graduate schools has not been clear and has been difficult to understand.

Nakamura：

We’ve actually started to make some progress in mapping the lessons. Although I think it will take some time, I believe we can do it. I want to establish a mechanism in The University of Tokyo by which, if a graduate student doing special studies other than chemistry wants to study chemistry, that student can study chemistry by taking some of the lectures offered by the global COE. When the structure is clear and set, we will be able to do such things.

Then, that enables students to foresee and plan their future directions after completing doctoral courses.

Nakamura：

Students who have worked hard studying the basics in the undergraduate faculties and master courses will have already completed their studies of the basics by the time they enter the doctoral courses. When these students have received their doctoral degrees, they will be people able to achieve progress at the highest levels of 21st century science, in which various elements form a harmonious whole. I think such students will grow into talented professionals who are not only useful in academic research but are also useful in enterprises.

Foreign students in Japan

In the ex post facto evaluation of the 21st century COEs, both these projects received the highest evaluation, "Results have been greater than expected." If you dare to mention anything you could not achieve, what would it be?

Nakamura：

That the number of foreign students did not increase. The University of Tokyo can justifiably boast of the very high internationally competitive power of its chemistry-based postgraduate courses in the aspect of research. Because of this the number of foreign postdoctoral fellows has increased greatly. I can say their numbers have almost doubled, but the number of foreign students has increased only slightly. One reason for this is that foreign students are not entering the master courses, and therefore the number of foreign students in the doctoral courses has not increased. There are many excellent people overseas who want to enter our university, but their living expenses in Japan cannot be guaranteed. Therefore, under the present circumstances, we can’t actively recruit them. We can do nothing but wait until they win scholarships from somewhere. Since the COE projects started, the situation has improved, and seems to be good now.

In the United States, major countries in Europe, China, South Korea and Taiwan, students in chemistry-based master courses and doctoral courses receive support for their living expenses. That shows the enthusiasm of each of these countries for scientific technology. Unfortunately, in our global COEs, subsidies cannot be granted to master students. I really want to do something to solve this problem.

Master students are in the same position as undergrads. When the students have entered doctoral courses, they are positioned as young researchers for the first time. Do you mean that because of this classification of students, we can't keep up in terms of international competition?

Nakamura：

Such classifications are not in accord with international standards in the field of chemistry. When a master student is actually participating in research, that student is a young researcher. For instance, when a student has achieved good research results as a research assistant (RA), we can pay an RA allowance. If a student does not carry out research, we don’t appoint that student as an RA.

I’ve heard that supporting graduate school students in science and engineering has been state policy in the United States since the time of the “Sputnik shock.” This means that the United States is determined not to be outdone by Russia. However, although science- and engineering-based graduate students are supported with great hospitality, I have heard that no living support is provided for students of vocational graduate schools such as law schools.

Since the 21st century COEs started, the concept that doctoral students should be supported in terms of living expenses and tuition fees has finally begun to be recognized by people in Japan, hasn't it?

Nakamura：

Yes, that’s right. If sufficient funds for living expenses are supplied to master students as in the United States, will many young people from foreign countries rush to our university, or will nobody come? The attractiveness of the graduate school of The University of Tokyo will be tested if this occurs.

If foreign students with splendid records in the GRE99 percentile (1% of these students with high-ranking achievement levels) rush to our school, Japanese students may be pushed out. If so, the graduate school will be internationalized naturally. Just thinking about that is interesting, isn’t it?

Aren’t working hours for foreign students limited to 28 hours a week by law?

Nakamura：

Yes, by the Immigration Law. When we consider “working” separately from studying, that is a reasonable limitation. But I consider that payments to foreign students for research activities at graduate schools do not relate to the “work” stipulated in the Immigration Law. What do you think? On the other hand, this law does not apply to scholarships, but there are other restrictions on scholarships, and the system doesn’t work very well. I expect the Council for Science and Technology Policy to consider a comprehensive policy from the viewpoint of “how to bring excellent foreign human resources into the graduate schools of Japanese universities, and persuade them to remain in universities and enterprises in Japan.”

Examples of research

What kinds of research are actually carried out in this project base?

Nakamura：

One of the mandates of chemistry is to seek knowledge of what substances are. Another is to create useful substances in response to the demands of society. These are the missions of chemistry. In particular, action to create substances is the special domain of chemistry. Even a biologist or physicist is a chemist when creating a substance. The direction of research in the Faculty of Engineering is now moving toward creating substances, and the Faculty of Science is considered to be moving more toward research on what substances are.

　　　　　　　　

　　　　　　　　　　　　water-tight fullerene vesicle　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Ion-transporting membrane

If you can provide some examples, it would be easier to understand.

Nakamura：

One of the research projects I’m involved in now can be said to be most scientific. The project goal is to view moving organic molecules using an electron microscope. To see things invisible to the naked eye has always been a dream of human beings. This dream was partly realized by the invention of the microscope at the end of the 16th century. Even with the electron microscope, invented in the 20th century, it was considered impossible to see Angstrom unit-sized organic molecules.

Electrons collide with innumerable carbon atoms and hydrogen atoms in a solid, cause chemical reactions and generate heat. People steadfastly believed that organic molecules broke down because of this. But this was only a preconception. We discovered that this commonsense idea does not fit at all in the case of organic molecules placed in a vacuum.

It's been a quite adventure, hasn't it?

Nakamura：

What makes research so interesting is that we do anything we want to. In this project, which is being carried out jointly with Dr. Suenaga, an electron microscope expert who has done his graduate study on metallurgy in the School of Engineering we have been able to see molecular behavior for the first time.

When the organic molecules of a sample and a carbon nanotube are heated to a high temperature under vacuum conditions, 1020 molecules are vaporized and captured in the tube. When we observe the specimen using the electron microscope, we discover that not only can we see each organic molecule separately, but also that we can observe its behavior. We can see a molecule in the tube moving back and forth, or caught in a hole in the wall of the tube, or being detached from a hole and moving. Of course, it’s the first time in the world anyone has ever seen this.

In future we can expect to see chemical reactions, too. 。

Nakamura：

That’s right. Once we can do that there will be immense changes in what is taught in high schools and universities. By the way, we have recently found that we can connect the world of molecules and actual ordinary items in the everyday world. Lately, almost all frying pans have been Teflon-processed. Food cooked in a Teflon-coated frying pan doesn’t stick to it because the interaction between the fluorinated organic substance and ordinary organic substance is minimal. In other words, the coefficient of friction is small. When we observe the behavior of each fluorinated organic substance, we can understand why the friction coefficient of Teflon is so small. I expect to be able to elucidate the physical phenomena of friction and lubrication by observing individual molecules.

In addition, in this COE project base, Professor Hamaguchi is carrying out research aimed at conducting direct spectral observation of the scene in which biologically active compounds are formed or broken down in living cells.

Professor Yamanouchi’s research forte is the observation of molecules in the incredibly short time of one attosecond.

That is really science. Are there any other examples?

Nakamura：

Professor Fujita and Professor Aida of the School of Engineering are carrying out research to collect molecules and design and create structures several tens of nanometers in size, in other words, about the size of a virus. The purpose of their research to make molecules that are organized and can function by themselves by drawing out the potential ability of molecules called “self-organization.” Self-organization is the mechanism by which molecules gather due to their weak interaction, the result of the tendency of molecules to achieve a stable congregated condition, forming a structure with a function.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　metal-capturing artificial DNA

In concrete terms, what kinds of structures have been created?

Nakamura：

The chemical compound called catenane, in which cyclic molecules are connected like links in a chain, basket-shape structures and tubular structures. These are created as if assembling children’s sectional block toys made of plastic resin. We have learned the self-organization method of creating things, which was originally a biological activity, and we have succeeded in creating things of various shapes.

That sounds like fun. Can you give me any other examples?

Nakamura：

Professor Honda, Professor Fujishima and Professor Hashimoto are pioneers in photocatalyst research, a specialty of The University of Tokyo. Professor Domen is carrying out research on the generation of hydrogen gas from water by artificial photosynthesis using photocatalysts. His goal is to develop high-efficiency catalysts to absorb solar rays and accelerate decomposition. If this development is actualized, it should be extremely useful in solving environmental and energy problems facing humanity. Also, Professor Kobayashi of the School of Science, a pioneer and world leader, has developed a method of synthesizing organic substances in water, and is carrying out a national project to develop synthesizing methods with smaller environmental loads.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Water-splitting catalyst

Approach to social problems

After listening to you, I feel that the image of chemistry has been changing greatly.

Nakamura：

It is obvious that the four departments related to chemistry, which were quite separate five years ago, have been converging on a single axis. I can say that this is because a “story” has been created about chemistry as a whole. For instance, we face the challenge of solving social problems and future problems. When we study them, we learn the basics properly and clarify our attitudes toward approaching the social problems at the exits. One exit is medical science, which is connected to health, safety and freedom from anxiety. Another exit is material science, related to environmental problems.

　　　　　　　　

　　　　　　　　　　　Super Functional Molecular Catalysis 　　　　　　　　　　　Designer functional porous materials

The depletion of resources and elements is a problem, isn't it?

Nakamura：

Yes, I have been concerned about this for the past several years. The “element strategy” research project has started at the national level. For instance, this COE has been carrying out research with an international viewpoint, focusing on generating catalyst action using ubiquitous elements such as iron that has no toxicity and are distributed anywhere, instead of resources such as rare metals found only in certain countries.

This is modern alchemy, with a positive meaning. Research on elements is one of the fundamental themes of chemistry. We work to understand the characteristics of elements and develop these characteristics to the maximum. Of course, among the many elements, we want to conduct research on nontoxic elements. We hope to develop research on elements that can contribute to the future of our country, Japan, which has very little in the way of natural resources. We can approach a solution to Japan’s resource depletion problem through research on elements, which is the fundamental theme of chemistry.

Chemists view our ordinary world from the world of molecules. The members of our COE who have the common languages of molecular formulas and chemical formulas are well aware of who is doing what. Individual professors thoroughly understand the positional relationships between their own research and the research carried out by other professors. The advantage of this COE is that its operation involves a strong sense of togetherness.

I had the feeling that individual professors didn't know what the professors next door were doing.

Nakamura：

No, not at all. All chemical research is connected by element symbols and molecular formulas. There was a feeling in the old days that researchers in universities were isolated from actual society, but since the beginning of the 21st century, we can now strongly feel the connection between chemistry and the neighboring fields of biology and physical science, as well as with society. Chemistry has now really become the “central science,” with science, engineering and society starting to connect directly with each other, centering on chemistry as the focal point. 。

Thank you very much.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　(Interviewer: Masaharu Yano, COE Program Promotion Office)