SOPHIA UNIVERSITY A Guide for High School Students 2018-2019

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Because my father was a math teacher, I had no awareness that math and science were dicult to deal with and so, I was interested in them. I found it fun to handle actual phenomena in chemistry and physics in particular. While I was a high school student, however, rather than dedicating myself to any particular subject, I wanted to learn more than one subject, such as chemistry and physics, extensively, so I looked for a university where I would be able to do so. As a result, the Department of Materials and Life Sciences of Sophia University caught my attention. I sympathized with its educational policy of aiming to gain “cross-disciplinary knowledge,” in other words, to learn biology and environmental science on top of physics and chemistry in an integrated manner. As I had no specic future vision in those days, the fact that I could learn subjects from a broad range of elds seemed very attractive and I thought that it would be great if I could nd what I truly wanted to do in the process. is is why I applied for this department.Sophia University’s Faculty of Science and Technology is situated in central Tokyo, and despite the fact that liberal arts faculties share the same campus, students can work on their studies or research without want for anything in terms of the surrounding environment or experimental facilities. is, I believe, is one of its appeals. Furthermore, I can associate with people having a diverse sense of values through classes and club or group activities on a daily basis while devoting myself to studying. Another attractive characteristic is that the distance between professors and students is close because the number of students in the faculty is small. I can not only ask a professor a question that arises in class face to face but also receive generous guidance from him/her in the laboratory as well.In the laboratory headed by Associate Professor Suzuki, to which I am assigned, we work on organic synthesis. Given that organic synthesis is research that generally takes much time to generate a response or to operate, it is believed to be tough. Now that I am assigned to the lab, I am honestly very much surprised to nd myself interested in organic synthesis to such a high degree and fully embrace head-on this subject that I was poor at when I was in high school. e research that I am currently working on is the synthesis of compounds that emit uorescence when bound together with bacteria and other materials. I couldn’t imagine what research would be like until I advanced to my senior year, but I discovered the fun and the sense of superiority in “making something that nobody has ever made by employing an approach that has no conclusive proof” and when I actually realize such an achievement, I am tremendously moved.Before taking my college entrance exams, I was not sure about what I wanted to do in the future. Partly because of the inuence of my father, who was a teacher, I had vague notions of following in his footsteps. For this reason, I thought of taking a teacher-training course at university with the aim of becoming a science teacher. Upon entering Sophia University, however, I came across a eld that interested me when taking a course in the Faculty of Science and Technology (FST) and in fact, I was assigned to the laboratory that I had wanted to join. Since then, I have become aware of the fun of pursuing the matters in which I am interested until I am completely satised. At present, I have yet to identify what I specically want to do down the road, but I will move on to graduate school, nd a subject that sets me apart from others, and engage in research on it for two years with a view to landing a research job that will allow me to pursue a subject that interests me to my heart’s content. To full this goal, I would like to devote myself to studies while enjoying the rest of my college life to the full.Reason for ApplicationLearning at the Faculty of Science and TechnologyIn the laboratory Future visionIn this laboratory, we work on organic chemistry and medicinal chemistry. By making use of the knowledge and technology of synthetic organic chemistry, that is, “manufacturing in the nanoworld,” we aim to create functionalized molecules that can contribute to the life sciences. In cooperation with researchers who are engaged in a wide range of elds from medical science to pharmaceutical sciences to physical chemistry both at home and abroad, we tackle research on developing new anticancer agents, diagnostic agents or uorescent sensors by making use of “cross-disciplinary knowledge.” We not only acquire knowledge and techniques but learn to “think and clearone’s own path” as well. Suzuki Laboratory (Department of Materials and Life Sciences)LaboratoriesTogether with Associate Professor Yumiko Suzuki as a thesis advisorPursuing something until I am fully satisfied; this is the fun of research. K.A.Fourth-year student, Department of Materials and Life Sciences(Photo taken in FY2017) 03