Scene on the day of the "Thinking about the Future of Female Junior and Senior High School Students at the Faculty of Science, the University of Tokyo. Above: Greeting by Kotaro Kono, Chair of the Gender Equality Committee. Bottom: Event screen on PC.

On Saturday, July 31, 2021, the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Science held an event for female junior and senior high school students, their parents, and teachers to promote higher education. Although the event had to be held online, as in the previous year, 83 connections were made (and the number of participants, including parents, is thought to be even higher), far exceeding the number of last year. Associate Professor Asuka Ikai (Department of Chemistry) introduced the Faculty of Science, followed by a lecture by Mr. Yuki Murota of the Research Promotion Bureau of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology on "From Faculty of Science to Administration: A Wide Range of Career Options". Through the various job descriptions at the MEXT, Mr. Murota showed in an easy-to-understand manner how the knowledge gained through science can be utilized in a wide range of situations. Professor Masako Takasu, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Science, gave a lecture titled "Working as a University Teacher - What I am glad I entered the Faculty of Science. She introduced her interest in statistical mechanics when she was in the Department of Physics, the process of her research using protein simulations, and how she enjoys jogging and running marathons in the midst of her busy research schedule. Since there were many junior high school students who registered for the seminar, he also added a story about his junior high school days when he was practicing hard for the basketball team. Both lecturers answered questions from the audience with humor and kindness, and their talk was very well received.

I hope that as many students as possible will deepen their interest in the Faculty of Science of the University of Tokyo and make the most of their experience at this event in choosing their future career path.

Finally, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Mr. Murota and Dr. Takasu for their lectures, to all the students (TAs), to the Gender Equality Committee, and to the members of the General Affairs and Communications & Public Relations Relations Teams, as well as to all the people involved.

Faculty of Science News, September 2021

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