Strong collaboration with the Mathematical Sciences is essential to the development of today’s Life Sciences. Vital contributions, for example, were made to the Human Genome Project by multiple scientific disciplines, including Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics, and Information Science. In response to the interdisciplinary demands of the modern age, the Department for Mathematical and Life Sciences at Hiroshima University developed the Bio Informatics course, established in 2000. Additionally, since 2005, as part of the Initiatives for Attractive Education in Graduate Schools, the Graduate School of Science has offered courses in Genomics and Proteomics, whilst the School of Science has offered a course in Systems Biology. These courses have all been designed to create an outstanding educational and research environment, where elite students can pursue their ambitions to become the next generation of leading researchers in the fields of Mathematical and Life Sciences.
However, in order to contribute to the almost explosive development of the Mathematical and Life Sciences, here at the Department we must turn our immediate attention to the education of substantial numbers of talented students and researchers able to undertake research in integrated fields of Mathematical and Life Sciences; a small band of elite researchers is simply not enough.
Equally important is the call for students and researchers capable of something more than just learning about existing interdisciplinary fields like Systems Biology. Instead, what is required today is the ability to understand the philosophy underlying these fields, and to utilize it to maximum effect.
Fostering a new generation of outstanding researchers, able and willing to lead Mathematical and Life Sciences to new frontiers, requires the construction of Educational Standards in Mathematical and Life Sciences. These standards must be applicable throughout Japan, and link together all the educational and research facilities that are striving for the same goal. This will enable us to avoid a situation whereby each department or university concentrates too much on creating a distinct educational ‘persona’ for itself.
In response to this, courses on the empirical and mathematical aspects of life phenomena at the Department of Mathematical and Life Sciences at the Graduate School of Science in Hiroshima University have been aligned with courses that provide instruction on “the shaping of life” and Phenomenological Mathematics at the Basic Science and Engineering Course at the Department of Science and Technology in the Graduate School at Meiji University. These are joined by courses on life phenomena at partner universities, including Ryukoku University, Kyoto University and Hokkaido University. The education provided at these diverse institutions can each complement the others; this allows all parties to nurture into maturity researchers fully adapted to the coming generation, able to pioneer a new era in Mathematical and Life Sciences. Moreover, the integration of these diverse institutions allows each participating university to maximize its unique characteristics: the educational system of Hiroshima University, the internationalism of Meiji University, the innovative approach of the partner universities. These elements then deftly combine to produce a new educational method for the Mathematical and Life Sciences (see image below left).
By integrating the Mathematical and Life Science disciplines at Hiroshima University, Meiji University and the partner universities, we are able to generate the following Mathematical and Life Sciences:
For first-term doctoral programs (Master’s programs), a mutually compatible and cooperative teaching method is employed in order to foster life scientists with strong mathematic knowledge and mathematicians with strong knowledge of the life sciences. - For second-term doctoral programs (PhD programs), programs are designed to contribute to shared knowledge and understanding of mathematics and the life sciences (fluid movement of students through intra-departmental research programs, for example). These programs provide support in extending the scope of the research areas tackled by students who are the future leaders of Mathematical and Life Sciences.
- By providing funding for fields which integrate mathematical sciences and life sciences, we can support student-led research into Mathematical and Life Sciences, as well as attract students both in Japan and overseas who seek to become outstanding researchers in Mathematical and Life Sciences.
