Molecular Science

This course conducts fundamental and advanced education in molecular science that includes subjects ranging from electronic properties of individual molecules, which account for the physical and chemical properties of molecules, to static and dynamical properties of molecular assemblies with macroscopic size. The course consists of physical, structural, analytical, organic, inorganic, biological, environmental and some other branches of chemistry in its central part and has a close connection with material physics, biology, medical science, agriculture and engineering. Basic lectures at a high level and advanced seminars on the most recent progress in molecular science will be offered to students so that they may broaden and deepen their knowledge to increase their abilities in scientific studies and industrial activities. Students will acquire high skills to develop a scientific research and keen insight to find out new scientific problems through participating in one of leading research projects related to, for instance, fast chemical kinetics, molecular magnetism, photon-molecule interactions, novel synthesis of highly functionalized organic compounds, new analytical method of proteins, gene manipulation for analysis of structures and functions of biomolecules, and search for unknown natural organic compounds with physiological activities, and education of the temporal and spatial variations and bioaccumulation mechanisms of persistent toxic contaminants.

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Functional Material Science

Elementary steps in physical processes and chemical reactions in many substance systems, such as dissociation, ionization, association, and so on, are investigated under various conditions, that is, at very low temperature, at high pressure, and upon photoexcitation. Profiles and interactions of the reaction products, electrons, ions, atoms, radicals, and crystals, are analyzed at the atomic and molecular levels. Based on these researches on fundamental chemistry, synthesis of new functional materials are conducted.

Life Material Science

The research projects in this division are aiming to understand the natural phenomena in molecular level, particularly the functions of organic and biological materials, by the collaboration of researchers in the fields of organic chemistry, biochemistry, analytical chemistry, and environmental chemistry. Some examples of the present research projects are ; structural studies and creation of functional molecular materials, synthesis of functional organic materials, development of new analytical method of proteins, synthesis of artificial receptors for the signal transduction in organisms, synthesis of artificial metalloenzymes, analysis of the mechanism of biological adaptation to environment, and chemical analysis of trace substances in organisms.