Disclaimer: machine translated by DeepL which may contain errors.
Faculty of Science Advisory Council Meeting was held
Satoshi Yamamoto, Vice Dean/Professor, Department of Physics
The Faculty of Science Advisory Council met on Wednesday, March 17, 2021. The Advisory Council is held every year as a valuable opportunity to hear the opinions of professors who are active in various fields on the current status and challenges of the Faculty of Science and its future direction. This year, the meeting was again held online due to the declared state of emergency. We were able to have all the committee members listed in the attached table participate in the meeting despite their busy schedules.
List of Advisory Council MembersKiyokazu Agata (Director, National Institute for Basic Biology, National Institutes of Natural Sciences)
Yukako Uchinaga (Executive Vice President, NPO J-win), who has been with us since our academic days Maki Kawai (Director, Institute for Molecular Science, National Institutes of Natural Sciences)
Mariko Hasegawa (President, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies)
Kimio Hanawa (Professor Emeritus Professor, Tohoku University)
Masahiko Hayashi (Director, JSPS Research Liaison Center)
The Advisory Council proceeded with Mariko Hasegawa (President, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies) as Chair. The Deans Council heard presentations on the current status of the Faculty of Science, research excellence, and social contribution from Dean Masahiro Hoshino; on public relations activities from Vice Dean Yuichi Iino; on internationalization of education and research from Vice Dean Shinichi Okoshi; on Faculty of Education from Director Atsushi Kawakita; on Faculty of Education Council Director Kotaro Kawano; on gender equality initiatives from Dean Takataro Takano; and on the role of the Graduate School of Science, the Graduate School of Science, the Graduate School of Engineering, the Graduate School of Engineering, the Graduate School of Engineering, the Graduate School of Engineering, the Graduate School of Engineering, the Graduate School of Engineering, the Graduate School of Engineering, the Graduate School of Engineering, the Graduate School of Engineering, the Graduate School of Science, the Graduate School of Engineering, the Graduate School of Engineering, the Graduate School of Engineering, the Graduate School of Science, the Graduate School of Engineering, the Graduate School of Engineering, the Graduate School of Engineering, the Graduate School of Science, the Graduate School of Engineering, the Graduate School of Engineering, the Graduate School of Engineering, the Graduate School of Science, and the Graduate School of Engineering for Education, the Graduate School of Science, the Graduate School of Engineering, the Graduate School of Engineering. Mr. Kotaro Kawano, Director of the Gender Equality Office, reported on gender equality initiatives, and Mr. Yoshio Takahashi, Assistant Dean of the Graduate School, reported on the Student Support Office and the Career Support Office. In response to these reports, there was a lively discussion and exchange of opinions in general, with the committee members asking questions even in the middle of the presentations.
One of the topics was financial affairs. Based on the importance of diversifying financial resources other than Management Expenses Grants and competitive funds, one of the suggestions was that the University of Tokyo Foundation and other donation-raising activities should be better publicized and enhanced. He also encouraged us to promote such activities more actively in order to implement various measures including student support in an autonomous and continuous manner, otherwise we will not be able to compete globally in the long run. He also suggested that we should utilize a professional consultant, so we will need to consider how to proceed in cooperation with the Central Administration Bureau in the future.
Another issue that came up for discussion was the continuing low number of female faculty members. Some suggested that in order to secure excellent faculty members, it is necessary to consider family positions, as seen in overseas universities, and others suggested that The University of Tokyo should take the initiative in changing the environment in which it is natural to sacrifice one's private life.
In addition, there were active discussions on financial support for graduate students and degree programs, horizontal development of good practices such as GSC (Global Science Course) and GSGC (Global Science Graduate Course), etc., and the session ended about 30 minutes over the scheduled time of 3 hours. The meeting ended about 30 minutes over the scheduled time of 3 hours. I think it was very good that the various activities of School of Science and Graduate School of Science were generally evaluated, and at the same time, candid opinions and suggestions were given. On the other hand, we were also given some serious challenges, and we are now being asked how we can accept them and move toward their realization.
Faculty of Science News May 2021