Science Tokyo to adopt Institute-wide vision-driven integrated research framework

Institute of Science Tokyo(Science Tokyo) will introduce a new vision-driven integrated research framework across the Institute in April 2025 to create enhanced societal impact across various key areas. Driving the model forward are newly established Visionary Initiatives (VIs) — international, multi-sectoral hubs that strive to solve critical societal issues based on “visions for the future.” These VIs will significantly transform Science Tokyo’s current research framework, which is vertically divided by disciplinary fields such as the medical and dental sciences, science and engineering, informatics, and the liberal arts, into a cross-disciplinary approach.

Science Tokyo aims to gradually involve all its approximately 1,800 full-time researchers in one or more of its VIs. This will accelerate integrated research, boost collaboration in fields such as medicine and engineering — one of the goals of the merger between Science Tokyo’s predecessor universities — and create an ecosystem that generates innovations together with diverse partners and organizations across society.

Graduate-level education will also be firmly linked to VI activities. The Institute will develop its current cross-disciplinary courses and aims to launch VI-based graduate-level programs by FY 2028.

Background

Science Tokyo was established in October 2024 following the merger between Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) and Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech). This union has brought together world-class capabilities in the medical and dental sciences, and science and engineering, and is expected to significantly boost the Institute’s research prowess. To achieve its mission of “advancing science and human wellbeing to create value for and with society," the Institute has declared a threefold vision to pave the way toward a better, brighter future:

Better life — Realizing an ample life for all humans

Better society — Pioneering new frontiers

Better planet — Achieving sustainability on Earth

Science Tokyo’s VIs form an organizational structure that will promote strategic initiatives toward the achievement of this threefold vision with a unique shift that intertwines research activities with graduate-level education. The Institute is consciously breaking down conventional boundaries between fields such as the medical and dental sciences, and science and engineering, and is actively encouraging its community to adopt a “free and flat” mindset. Participation in the VIs is not limited to the Science Tokyo community. Openness to society is a core part of the VI approach, and the Institute hopes to extend this attitude to other universities, companies, public institutions, and municipalities at home and abroad.

University research has traditionally focused on discipline-specific approaches, and divergent ways of thinking, research methods, and cultures have acted as hindrances to collaboration. This was also the case at Science Tokyo’s predecessor universities. However, the big global issues of today and tomorrow, such as climate change, food shortages, and pandemics, are rapidly changing in form and complexity, and have become impossible to solve using traditional approaches. Therefore, Science Tokyo is taking a unified, future-oriented step toward interdisciplinary integrated research that spans diverse fields and stages — from basic to applied research — where different disciplines interact and enrich one another, and contribute to the achievement of a bigger vision. The goal is to establish an innovation ecosystem of creativity and discovery that breaks new ground beyond what universities have previously achieved.

VI framework in more detail

Science Tokyo aims to establish six VIs by FY 2025, and eventually, nine in total. The goal is to involve all researchers, mainly from the medical and dental sciences, and science and engineering, in the activities of one or more VIs by FY 2028. A program director (PD) who oversees research will be appointed for each VI, and approximately 60 principal investigators (PIs) will be assigned under each PD at the time of launch, encouraging researchers at home and abroad to contribute to the VIs with which they share their vision.

• VIs will comprehensively promote research planning and activities that contribute toward the realization of their respective visions. Personnel, funding, facilities, and equipment will be made available from across the Institute in a centralized manner and allocated optimally. VIs will take the lead in activities aimed at generating research findings and implementing these findings in society.
• In addition to providing advanced expertise in each field, Science Tokyo’s graduate-level academic units will facilitate updated teaching and learning connected to the vision-oriented ecosystem of each VI, in collaboration with industries and universities at home and abroad. All graduate-level students will participate in their VI’s project-based learning activities, which are based on a heightened awareness of societal issues. Research guidance for these students will be provided through a cross-disciplinary guidance system consisting of VI researchers rather than laboratories focusing on specific fields. The aim is to nurture talent with the ability to co-create societal impact by utilizing problem-solving skills based on a broad range of scientific expertise.
• The bachelor's degree program will basically continue unchanged as the national system stipulates an educational curriculum for obtaining licenses in the medical and dental sciences. It is also essential for students to acquire basic specialized skills in each field of science and engineering. However, Science Tokyo will mold the structure into one that enhances opportunities to join cross-disciplinary courses involving both the medical and dental sciences, and science and engineering.
• VIs will facilitate collaborative work with outstanding researchers by strengthening ties with universities and research institutions at home and abroad.
• Science Tokyo will pursue strengthened industry collaborations while aiming to create new industries beyond those associated with traditional science and engineering, and the medical and dental sciences. The fostering of startup companies and other efforts are aimed to accelerate the social implementation of research findings.

Visionary Initiatives as of April 15, 2025

Better life — Realizing an ample life for all humans

1.  Total Health Design VI: Achieving the health and wellbeing of all

     Program director: Professor Fumihiko Ishikawa (medical and dental sciences)

2.  Well-Vitality Science VI: Each person achieving a spiritually rich and diverse life

     Program director: Professor Kumi Kuroda (science and engineering)

Better society — Pioneering new frontiers

1.  Innovative Life Society VI: Cyber-physical spaces opening up new areas of life

     Program director: Professor Kei Sakaguchi (science and engineering)

2.  Space Innovation VI: Developing space life zones

     Program director: Professor Yasuhito Sekine (science and engineering)

Better planet — Achieving a sustainable planet

1.  GX Frontier VI: Realizing cutting-edge science and technology to make green transformation a reality

     Program director: Professor Mika Goto (science and engineering)

2.  Resilience Tech Society VI: Achieving a society resilient to disasters and pandemics

     Program director: Professor Tomoko Ishino (medical and dental sciences)

More details on Science Tokyo’s Visionary Initiatives will be presented at the Science Tokyo Founding Symposium “What is Science?” held on Ookayama Campus at 3:00 p.m. JST on April 15, 2025.

Pre-Science Tokyo examples of collaborations between medicine and engineering

Applying mechanical engineering knowledge to solve issues in the medical field: During the Covid-19 pandemic, TMDU faced problems with thrombi in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machines at its hospital. This led to a collaboration with Tokyo Tech to study thrombus prevention using pulsatile flow from a centrifugal pump.

Development in the field of mRNA medicine:

A specialist in mRNA medicine, an expert in nanomachine technology, and an orthopedic clinician have teamed up to carry out the world's first application of regenerative medicine on the human body using mRNA medicine. The team plans to conduct the trial in FY 2025. Interest in the mRNA medicine field has continued to increase after the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for work on nucleoside base modifications that enabled the creation of effective mRNA vaccines during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Detecting the risk of diseases and improving quality of life:

A team has collaborated with a corporate partner to develop an electrocardiogram (ECG) equipped with artificial intelligence that can be used to detect hidden atrial fibrillation from ECGs during non-seizure periods. The creation has been used at medical checkups in Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Shizuoka Prefecture.

Utilization of healthcare information to develop a large language model:

With extensive consent from all outpatients, the Institute of Science Tokyo Hospital is now able to utilize over 60,000 electronic medical records and over 300 million medical images using "Swallow," a large-scale language model developed jointly by Science Tokyo and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and considered one of the most powerful generative AIs in Japan.

Institute of Science Tokyo (Science Tokyo) was established on October 1, 2024, following the merger between Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) and Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech), with the mission of “Advancing science and human wellbeing to create value for and with society.”

https://www.isct.ac.jp/en