Fostering Long-Term Creativity and Innovation

Program for Leading Graduate Schools

with Science and Technology
Disciplines Based on Ochanomizu Spirit“Migakazuba”in the Next Generation of
Global Leaders

Program for Leading
Graduate Schools

Newsletter

v ol.

13

November 2017

Preparing to takef light into careers
PBTS Teams Introduction
Doctors will soon be entering careers to lead the new era
Report on students’ activities & new student
Messages from business people and research institutions

2

4
6
7

Preparing to take f lightight
Our Program for Leding Graduate schools is based on foundational studies ofphysics, mathematics and information science, and produces women with
doctorates, able to respond swiftly to the changing needs of our society,continuously creating innovations, and achieving global success withingovernment, industry or academia.
This program offers diverse opportunities including the three shown on the right,
and strengthens the students’ foundational education as well as their capabilities as
global leaders.
In this newsletter, we introduce the activities of the PBTS (Project Based Team
Study), the most highlighted feature of our program. PBTS is a team-based research
activity modeled after project research actually practiced at companies. Students
majoring in different fields –such as physics, mathematics, information science,chemistry, biology, life sciences, food and nutritional sciences, and life andenvironmental sciences –decide on a theme to work on by themselves, and conduct
joint research in the English language.
As of October 1, 2017, ten teams are performing PBTS.

PBTS■ Research details

Global Internship(medium- to long-term internship)Students experience research
activities in diverse environmentsby participating in multiple
internships at companies and/or//or
research institutionsin Japan and abroad.

Diverse lectures
conducted
in English
Lectures are offered on diverse
courses in the field of sciences,including those outside of thestudents’ academic discipline,
as well as liberal arts studies,such as culture and history.

PBTS Project Based Team Study

into careers

Lectures andvisits to learn the
management strategies
of private companies
Courses include classes conductedby guest lecturers and visits to
private companies

2nd class of students■ Research details

3rd class of students

Now in their fourth year,
these students arestrengthening their efforts tosummarize their research
results and present theirfindings.

Education

We visited Tokyo University of Agriculture andTe c h n o l o g y r e s e a r c h e r s t o d i s c u s sbiomimetics. We are planning a collaboration
with a laboratory of hydro simulation.

■ Latest topics

Health CareOur project goal is to develop arecipe recommendation
application in orde r to solve
diet-related health problems
and promote people’s awareness of environmental issues.

We are developing a recipe recommendation
application using Ajinomoto’s recipes data.
One of our members is working for a project“Panasonic - AIST” team, engaging in thedevelopment of dialogue system throughimage for recipe recommendation.

Science Education

In order to respond to the social
p r o b l e m of g e n d e r di ve r s i t yamong specialists in puresciences we seek to promote
female role models for students
at women high schools. The aim
is to increase interest in scienceeducation.

We interviewed a female leader of science
working for a company in business with 3M,
N T T D o c o m o a n d Ko s e. We l e a r nt a b ou tscience talent in society and collected dataon role models.

These students areproceeding with theiractivities by strengthening
their relationships withthe business world.

Teams Introduction■ Research details

Anti-Aging

Development of a biomimic-green
filter for air pollutants.

Doctoral program students
in PBTS II are working
on new themes.

Introduction of research activities conducted by students to answer social needs

1st class of students

Green Filtering■ Latest topics

In order to lengthen the healthy
life span and spread the
traditional tea drinking habit inour society, the team’s goal is todevelop a new tea product withhigh anti-aging property.

We designed a course on
programming for high school
students, aiming at improving
their understanding of mathematical induction, which is a difficult
topic in high school math. In our
cour se, the students make asimple game using a techniquesimilar to mathematical induction.

■ Latest topics
In PBTS I, cooperating with Matoba tea factory andTohouen tea company, we demonstrated that tea
leaves with a long time steaming and underfreeze-dry method, and crashed in smaller pieces,could extract more catechins and Vitamin C. In PBTS
II, we hypothesized that blending different sizes ofcrushed leaves can maximize the release of anti-oxidant molecules and make it possible to brew thesame tea leaves 2 or 3 times without altering thetaste. We are conducting chemistry experiments andsensory tests on our blending tea samples.

This summer, we gave two lectures at Saitama
Prefectural Kawagoe Girls’ Senior High School.
To evaluate the outcome of our class, we will be
conducting a test on mathematical induction in
two groups: the class of students who participated in our lectures, and a non-participants
class.

■ Research details

4th class of students

Fly Trap

Ten students started theirteam-based research in
October 2017.

In o rde r to c o ntrol f ly laying
eggs in fruit and contribute to
the cultivation of organic fruit inJapan, we explore new
fly-repellent substances.

Other PBTS features□ Research meetings are conducted in
English once a week under the guidance of a non-Japanese instructor
complemented by cooperation withoutside specialists (from universities,

private companies, research institutions) depending on the research topic.

Synchronization

In order to unveil the mechanismof interaction between cultured
skin cells and collagen, we investigate the collective patterns that
cultured skin fibroblasts form on
collagen-coated dishes.

By focusing on the fact that the shape ofc u l tu r e d s k i n c e l l s d e p e n d s o n c o l l a g e n
concentration, we are improving our mathematical model and testing with simulations.

Traffic Jam

In the future, autonomous cars
w i l l b e p u t to p r a c t i c a l u s e .
Traffic will be mixed with normal
and autonomous cars. We aim
at finding a new method ofeasing jam in the mixed traffic
by computer simulations.

□ Furthermore, students deepen theirunderstanding of their research andenhance their presentation skills bygiving presentations and answering

questions in English, twice a year, infront of an audience and instructors
from both inside and outside of theuniversity.

Water Treatment2

vol. 13

Our study is aimed at improving
an existing wastewater treatment
system using enzymes for wastewate r f r o m fo o d fa c to r i e s toremove oil that is a big environmental burden.

We carried out oil-degradation experimentswith some collaborators such as food factories,
and presented the results at an international
conference in England.

Water Recycling

We aim to make effective use of
greywater resources for irrigation by reusing household waste
water from washing machine. In
the initial step, we propose todevelop a feasible system forremoving surfactant in water.

3

Kanako Enoyoshi

Nanami Kawaguchi

Dongyang Li

Yuko Caballero

Mathematics
Division of Advanced Sciences
Doctoral Program 2nd year

Chemistry and Biochemistry
Division of Advanced Sciences
Doctoral Program 2nd year

Chemistry and Biochemistry
Division of Advanced Sciences
Doctoral Program 2nd year

Life Sciences
Nutrition and food Science
Doctoral Program 1st year

Being curious of different
subjects, I went to England andSouth Korea to study andenjoy team research.
I hope to get a research
position in a company to makefull use of the logical thinking
ability of organizing the conceptof abstract mathematics.

I am aiming to work in R&D
field as biochemist to sustain
people’s healthy life.

I am investigating functional
food and nutrition component,such as soybean protein,
for the prevention of lifestyledisease, such as fatty
liver and obesity.

I would like to use my studies
of nutrition in projects forinternational cooperation.

【Research in major】
I try to construct examples of totally complex
submanifolds of theassociative Grassmann
manifold.
【Activities in the minor】
Along with my teammembers majoring in
biology and physics,
I study the physicalmechanism by whichskin cells form apattern ( like apicture of Van Gogh),and the relationshipwith collagen.

【Research in major】
I have researched on a lipid digestive enzyme, pancreatic lipase. I
work to establish the expression
system of pancreatic lipase using
E.coli and to clarify the biologicalsignificance of its carbohydrate
binding activity.
【Activities in the minor】
I pursue a team project regarding
purification of oil-contaminatedwastewater discharged from foodfactories with other students
majoring different academic fields.
To carry out this experimental
research, I have also collaborated
with some specialists in companies and universities.

【Research in major】
My research topic is to reveal thecircadian disruption during thedevelopment of obesity, thus tofind functional food components
for the modulation of circadian
disruption to prevent obesity.
【Activities in the minor】
I n o rd e r t o e l o n g a t e h e a l t h ylifespan and spreadtea drinking culture,
I’ m cooperating withother two students
from different fields todevelop a novel Japanese tea product withhigher anti-aging
p ro p e r t i e s . I w o u l dlike to work in private
enterprises, such as
drug companies,
cosmetic companies,
food companies for
products development or research.

Doctors will soon be entering careers to lead the new era
er
Aiming to be the type of person who has broad perspectives not limited to single area of expertise【Research in major】
After finishing my study in theuniversity, I would like to work on
international cooperation projects.
【Activities in the minor】
Searching algorithm for estimatingenergy expenditure from heartrate. PBTS theme: We are developing a new type of green tea. I
did an internship in the UnitedStates for three months this year
and I conducted the green tea
tasting test in Los Angeles. I am
doing a comparative study uring
the collected data on green tea
tasting test from Japanese andnon-Japanese.

1st and 2nd class of students (students not included)
Ritsuko Tamura (Biological Sciences, Division of Life Sciences)
Akiko Mito (Chemistry and Biochemistry, Division of Advanced Sciences)
Kei Hashimoto (Biological Sciences, Division of Life Sciences)
Kimiko Yamashita (Physics, Division of Advanced Sciences)
Misato Takahashi (Physics, Division of Advanced Sciences)
Duong Thi Thu Ha (Biological Sciences, Division of Life Sciences)

Yuyu So

Kaori Takagi

Megumi Kitagawa

Moeka Nakayama

Human-Environmental Sciences
Doctoral Program 2nd year

Mathematics
Division of Advanced Sciences
Doctoral Program 1st year

Chemistry and Biochemistry
Division of Advanced Sciences
Doctoral Program 1st year

I aim to broaden my horizons
for my career developmentusing logical reasoning skill I
improved through the study inmathematics and experiencesof conducting our team study.

Through global internship andoverseas conference, I gained
the ability to jump into the“away” environment.
After graduation, I would like towork at a company in cooperation with people from various
countries and fields by taking
advantage of the expertise andleadership cultivated in this
doctoral course.

I am majoring in environmental
engineering. I am doing a surveyof rainwater use possibility inhouseholds to achievesustainable water supply.
【Research in major】
I am focusing on the sustainabilityof water environment from theperspective on wastewater treatment. I am studying how to
improve the existing treatment
method of wastewater from foodfactories with a student majoring inbiochemistry.
【Activities in the minor】
I would like to contribute to theimprovement of global life environment.

4

vol. 13【Research in major】
My study is operator algebras,compact quantum groups and theirrepresentation theory. The theoryof operator algebras has an application to mathematical physics
especially quantum mechanicalmechanics and quantum field
theory.
【Activities in the minor】
I am undertaking Project Based
Team Study in collaboration withstudents majoring in Physics,
Biochemistry and Bioinformatics.
As an effort to prevent people frombeing adversely affected by air
pollution, our project is to create
an environmentally-friendly filter toremove air pollutants. Besides, I
am planning my fourth overseasinternship this winter.

【Research in major】
We are examining a mechanism ofa protein, which has anticoagulant
activity. The aim is to contribute to
the development of antithrombotic
drugs that do not affect hemostasis.
【Activities in the minor】
I’m working on the treatment of air
pollutions as a global issue frombiochemical approaches.
I did an internship at a chemicalcompany in Germany and evaluated the safety of chemicals to theenvironment and health.

5Message of encouragement from business people
and research institutions involved in the Programfor Leading Graduate Schcols

R e p o r t o n s t u d e n t s’activ ities

Six students gave poster presentations at the 2017 Work in Progress
Ochanomizu University regularly hosts the Work in Progress event,wh ich p r ov id e s a pl a c e fo r d o c t o r a l s t u d e nt s t o i nt e r a c t w it hprivate-sector companies and organizations. The event for the 2017
academic year was held on September 27. Six students of the Program for
Leading Graduate Schools, who have an interest in working at a privatecompany, participated.

Have the mindset of continuing to enhance yourown values and put it into practice▶ Mina Aoyama, General Manager / Raw Materials, In-Process Materials andOutsourcing Products Assurance Department Manager / Diversity Promotion Unit
Bridgestone Corporation

To work is to serve society, a business, and an organization. And roughlysummarized, output is equal to productivity multiplied by work hours. At a time
when we are striving to reform our ways of working and reduce the hours spent atwork, it is becoming increasingly important to increase productivity to enhance thevalue of the individual as a working person.
When I look back at my younger days, I was busy gaining knowledge during
my student years. And then after starting work, I was putting all my efforts toward
using the knowledge that I had gained. I was also constrained to try to achieve abalance between work and raising my children. So when I think back, I believe I
may have lacked the mindset of trying to continuously enhance my own value.
The values that are desired by you from society change depending on what stage
you are in with your work, your position, the environment around you, and otherfactors. When you are young, you are required to learn how to assemble a plan for

The event was planned and held in three parts. The first part consistedof a Corporate Seminar, with representatives from companies, speaking
about what they expect from doctoral human resources and about thedoctoral-degree personnel that they have hired in the past. The second
part of the event was a Poster Presentation given by the students, and thefinal part comprised of Individual Exchanges in which students visitedthe booths of the different companies.
It wa s a l ively eve nt , w it h a cont i nuou s st re a m of cor p or at eparticipants coming to visit the students’ poster presentations andactively engaging in conversations with the students. In the previous
a ca dem ic yea r, t h is t y pe of eve nt helpe d con ne ct st ude nt s a ndcompanies, even led to internships and employment. Thus, this event has
become important for the students of our program to encounter thebusiness world.

M e s s a g e

conducting experiments and acquire deeply
specialized knowledge, among other things.
Eventually, it becomes important to acquire
the ability to see things from a comprehensive
perspective, make swift judgment from little
information, lead a team, and gain the supportof those who oppose you as well as those withdifferent cultural backgrounds.
I hope that you, students in the Leading Program, will try to not only further
your specialized knowledge during your student years, but also lay the foundations
for being highly productive persons. Furthermore, in order for you to continue
producing effective output, not only right now but also into the future, I hope you
will have the mindset of continuing to improve your productivity while looking
ahead at the values that will be required of you. If you have that mindset, and if
you put it into practice, you will find that you can do well regardless of where you
work and where you go, and this will become the key to your future success.

Be smart at times, and be lost at times▶ Participating companies ( alphabet ical order )Accenture Japan Ltd., Aspark Co., Ltd., Data4C’s K.K., IBM Japan, Ltd.,
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, NEC
Central Research Laboratories, Novar tis Pharma K.K., PwC Consulting
LLC, Ricoh Company, Ltd., Shiseido Company, Limited, Weathernews
Inc., The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd.

Introduwho en cing a new stu
tered ind
Octobe ent
r 2017

Note: Professor Tajima has been involred in the Leading Program from April 2017.

Hoping to see female researchers create a newarea of study that will lead the era▶ Michiko Yoshitake, Chief Researcher, Semiconductor Device Materials Group,

International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science

We are currently in a period where we are experiencing a major shift. We arein the midst of a fourth industrial revolution, following the industrial andinformation revolution, as we see developments in IoT, VR (virtual reality),and AR (augmented reality) that connect computers and network technologies
to the real world, as well as deep learning (multi-layer neural networks) thathave innovated calculations. At a time when artificial intelligence is expected
to reduce the currently available jobs by half, we will likely see the start of an
era when we begin to question what it means to be a human being.
In these times, which are unlike any we have seen before, we need humanresources who have broad perspectives that extend beyond the confines ofhumanities and sciences. Such persons should think about what kinds ofstudies are needed, and create those studies with an understanding of theunique aspects of what it means to be a human being. During the high-growth6

vol. 13per iod when the cur rently dilapidating
Tokyo metropolitan highway was built,
roads and buildings were built only from thep e r s p e c t ive of a r ch it e c t u r e a n d c iv i lengineering. However, today, the standard
thinking is to build infrastructure while
taking into account the design of the entire
town, including the use of social sciences aspects, such as taking into
consideration the movement of the people in the surrounding areas. As you
study in your major academic discipline, all of you students are provided with
an opportunity to develop foundational skills, such as the methods fordiscovering problems and finding approaches toward resolving them, as wellas the ability to see things from diverse perspectives that are different fromyour expertise through participation in PBTS. I hope you will look ahead at the
problems that will arise by the changing of the times, and create a new area ofstudy that does not exist today, but that will be needed to help us prepare forour future.

7

Up d at es
Students from overseas partner institutions
participated in PBTS
The 3rd class of students gave presentations to students from ouroverseas partner institutions participating in the July Summer Program.
And in August, the 4th class of students formed, for only one day, amixed PBTS team together with graduate students from Asian science
universities, and had lively discussions. This gave students a chance toexperience the difficulty of explaining in English what they are studying,as well as the difficulty of making people unfamiliar with their studies

The head of the Leading Graduate School
Promotion Center gave a lecture at a
symposium in Tokyo to promote active
participation of women in sciences
A symposium was held as part of the Ministry of Economy, Trade andIndustry’s activities to increase participation of women in science. Professor Hiroaki Yoshida, the head of the Leading Graduate School Promotion
Center, gave a lecture as a university representative. He discussed thecurrent situation and issues that universities face in their in efforts towards
boosting the active participation of women in sciences; initiatives by
Ochanomizu University.
During the lecture, professor Yoshida explained about the history ofscience education provided in Ochanomizu University. He introduced theProgram for Leading Gradute Schcols to the symposium participants as
being the university’s core initiative for promoting the participation ofNewslettervol. 13
November2017

Ochanomizu University
Fostering Long-Term Creativity and Innovation with Science andTechnology Disciplines Based on Ochanomizu Spirit“Migakazuba”
in the Next Generation of Global Leaders

July 21 and August 25, 2017
Venue: PBTS Room, Ochanomizu University

understand their research.
Overseas students showed interest in the fact that PBTS involves
students from different fields to conduct research in line with social
issues, experiencing trial and error. After the group work, students wereseen enjoying conversing with one another.
This type of exchange with overseas students is an effective opportunity for this program in developing human resources that will be
successful on a global level. We are planning to continue offering suchprograms with voluntary activities by students.

September 21, 2017
Venue: Conference room at the Ministry of Economy, Trade andIndustrySponsor: Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and JRIA (Japan
Research Industries and Industrial Technology Association)

women in sciences by developing female global leaders who have theskills to be immediately successful in working at private companies.
This symposium had many participants from private companies, with astring of lively questions being asked after the lecture, even during the
break period, demonstrating the high interest that the business world hasin promoting the active participation of women in science. It was a great
opportunity to inform people in the government, industry and academiathat the students of our program are educatied with diverse perspectives
that will enable them to become global leaders.

Leading Graduate School Promotion Center,
Ochanomizu University
Graduate School of Humanities & Sciences Building, Room No. 601
2-1-1 Otsuka, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 112-8610, Japan
E-mail: leading-ocha@cc.ocha.ac.jp
Tel: 03-5978-5775

http://leading.dc.ocha.ac.jp/leading/en/