Message from the Dean

Dean of the Graduate School of Science and Technology
KENICHI TAKAI

The Graduate School of Science and Technology aims to nurture next-generation researchers and engineers who can contribute to people and the society through science and technology and play an active role in the global arena as it strives to instill two guiding principles, “neighborliness” and “internationality,” under Sophia University’s founding philosophy “Christianity Humanism.” In 2008, in an effort to realize the University’s philosophy and achieve its goals, the Graduate School, which had theretofore had seven graduate programs and one research institute, was reorganized into one interdisciplinary graduate program with eight divisions: mechanical engineering, electrical and electronics engineering, applied chemistry, chemistry, mathematics, physics, biological science, and information science. This interdisciplinary graduate program has enabled the Graduate School to not only develop genuine experts who do not concentrate only on their own field of study but also respond flexibly to increasingly diversified interdisciplinary science and technology in the future.

In 2013, in order to attain the above-mentioned goals, The Graduate School established an English course that would allow students to earn the required credits for completing a master’s or doctoral course through lessons in English for the purpose of developing human resources who can contribute to solving from a global perspective environmental destruction and other problems that are prevalent across the globe. Because students from both Japanese and English courses attend seminars and conduct experiments together in a laboratory, they can naturally acquire English communication skills and learn about diverse values through their everyday activities. An environment that helps students play an active role in the global arena has also been created, an example of which is that students from the English course offer assistance to Japanese course students who are making presentations at international conferences.

A system that allows working individuals or so-called adult students to pursue a master’s or doctoral course is available as well, and this has enabled them to obtain a master’s or doctoral degree while working in the real world. Much time is needed to establish oneself and lead a comfortable life. Many adult students can find joy in being able to think profoundly in Sophia’s campus where they sense a difference in how time flows compared with their workplaces, complete the required course, and assume leadership roles in various fields after acquiring a broader perspective and returning to society.

In 2020, three research bases related to materials, energy, and information were established to enable communication of results of advanced research and studies. In particular, at Sophia’s campus located in the heart of Tokyo, these bases serve as a venue where researchers from industry, government, and academia in Japan and abroad gather to exchange knowledge. They also provide a stimulating environment in which students can obtain firsthand the results of cutting-edge research and studies.

Students and teachers at the Graduate School of Science and Technology have continued to inherit the baton of knowledge passed down by predecessors, add to it new knowledge that only Sophia University can offer, and hand it over to the next generation. By passing the baton to the coming generation, with the University’s credo “for Others, with Others” as our guiding principle, we will continue striving toward developing leaders who will open up a bright future in the global arena through science and technology in order to make the world a better place to live in.