Outline of the plan for establishing the global COE
The rapid consumption of fossil fuel has caused unacceptable environmental problems such as the greenhouse effect, which could lead to disastrous climatic consequences. Thus, renewable and clean energy resources are required in order to solve global energy and environmental issues, in which chemistry is expected to play a crucial role. At Osaka University, we have been tackling the underlying issues of these problems through our 21st century COE program that started in 2002. As part of our program, twenty-two chemistry laboratories in three different graduate schools of Osaka University cooperated in creating a new "Integrated EcoChemistry," program with the aim of eventually leading to a sustainable society in which both mankind and nature can coexist. Our "Integrated EcoChemistry" program (2002-2007) has provided numerous Fellowships for doctor course (Ph.D.) students (ca. one hundred Ph.D. students each year) who became actively involved in these projects and also organized a number of successful International Symposia on "Integrated EcoChemistry" (nine times for 5 years).
Now we extend and expand the previous COE program into a new Global COE program by establishing the Global Education and Research Center for Bio-Environmental Chemistry at Osaka University starting in 2007. Global education and global research activities have become more and more important in recent years as Osaka University has become one of the leading chemistry research centers in the world. This is demonstrated not only by the strength of our faculty but also by the number of publications from Osaka University authors in top worldwide recognized journals. For example the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS) is considered the top chemistry journal in the United States. Osaka University scientists now publish approximately fifty papers each year in JACS, a number comparable to that of scientists from Harvard University, one of the top Universities in the United States.
The Global Education and Research Center for Bio-Environmental Chemistry will be organized from a global point of view, aiming at optimizing solutions of global energy and environmental issues not only through extensive research activity but also by enhanced international activities such as new English Courses in Chemistry for Ph.D. students and Internships provided to our Ph.D. students. We have planned a series of lectures and seminars to be given at Osaka University by prominent professors from top Universities outside of Japan and have also devised a new E-learning system for helping our Ph.D. students improve their English research communication skills and thus more effectively participate in international collaborations. These types of global education and research activities are particularly important for the young scientists who will be actively engaged in finding optimum solutions to global energy and environmental issues in the 21st century.
Osaka University has a long-term tradition of global education and research activities and the maxim “Live Locally, Grow Globally” has guided Osaka University since its foundation. As part of this effort, the University has established overseas offices in San Francisco (2004), Groningen (2005) and Bangkok (2006) to recruit talented foreign Ph.D. students and we are now ready to establish the Global Education and Research Center for Bio-Environmental Chemistry at Osaka University in order to achieve our goal.
Objectives and prospective impacts of the global COE establishment
The specific objective of the Global Education and Research Center for Bio-Environmental Chemistry at Osaka University is to establish a new integrated framework of not only pure and applied chemistry but also biotechnology focusing on energy conversion, environmentally benign synthesis, molecular information and dynamics, chemical biology and biotechnology. We plan to achieve significant progress in these vital areas for sustainability by cooperating in these areas and by integrating the underpinning science. We feel strongly that the education and research activities of young scientists from all over the world are particularly important to achieve our long-term objectives in the "Save the Earth" project. Thus, we continue to provide Fellowships for talented Ph.D. students, who are encouraged to propose new interdisciplinary research projects that will be funded through a peer review process by program representatives as well as by invited professors from abroad at the Global Education and Research Center for Bio-Environmental Chemistry. A number of international symposia based on this program will be organized by selected COE fellows. We will also arrange Internships for Ph.D. students to carry out their research in foreign countries. An extensive series of lectures and seminars by invited professors from abroad are planned to facilitate international collaboration.
This program will take advantage of the rich array of scientific accomplishments and experiences acquired through graduate courses taught in English as well as through world-class cutting-edge research activities in our chemistry groups at Osaka University. We would like to actively recruit students to come to Osaka University who are eager to be trained in a novel advanced integrated academic field and to play an active role in the "Save the Earth" project, which may be one of the most important issues chemistry can address in the 21st century.
Shunichi Fukuzumi, Professor
Leader of Global COE Program,
Department of Material and life Science,
Graduate School of Engineering,
Osaka University
