[Announcement of Grantees] FY2024 KGRI Challenge Grant (Research Grant)
2024.09.19KGRI has established the FY2024 KGRI Challenge Grant as a new grant program, in replacement of the FY2023 Startup and Pre-Startup Research Grants. This grant program aims to support research projects in the areas of "Emerging", "Interdisciplinary", "International", "Cross-disciplinary" research and "Fusion of Humanities and Science", which more clearly reflect KGRI's new mission.
Specifically, three research categories were established: "OIST-Keio Exploratory Research", "Humanities-Science Fusion/Interdisciplinary/Cross-disciplinary Research," and "Exploratory Research/International Collaboration". As a result of extensive publicity activities within the university, KGRI received a significant number of ambitious and high-level applications from researchers in a wide range of fields, surpassing the number of applications received in the previous fiscal year.
Following a rigorous screening, the four projects mentioned below were selected. KGRI expect that these grants will lead to further development of international, cross-disciplinary or exploratory research, the acquisition of external funds for more large-scale and original research, and stronger research collaboration with OIST, which is also promoting research collaboration under the "Program for Forming Japan's Peak Research Universities (J-PEAKS)". KGRI will also support the applicants who were not selected this time to further develop their research by taking advantage of various internal and external programs.
[Grantees]
"Toward the Realization of Explainable Computing Environments"
Koji Mineshima （Associate Professor, Faculty of Letters）
"Development of Nanoparticle-based Immunotherapy Against Refractory Cancer"
Yuki Kagoya （Professor, School of Medicine）
"Developing Mathematical Approaches to Elucidate Biological Events"
Tomohisa Sujino （Senior Assistant Professor (Non-tenured), School of Medicine)
"Orthopedic Disease Estimation System Based on Daily and Gestural Movements Using a Hearable Device"
Yuta Sugiura (Associate Professor, Faculty of Science and Technology）
[Comments from grantees]
Koji Mineshima
It is a great honor to be selected for the FY2024 KGRI Challenge Grant. In today's world, we interact constantly with computers, and recently, AI tools based on deep learning, such as ChatGPT, are spreading rapidly, making the computing environment surrounding our social life increasingly diverse and complex. In this research, we will address issues surrounding the explainability of computer software, using a logic-based approach and through international collaboration between Japan and France. From a cross-disciplinary perspective of logic and AI, we will promote research toward the realization of an explainable and fair computing environment.
Yuki Kagoya
Thank you very much for selecting me for the KGRI Challenge Grant. I have been engaged in research on immuno-cell therapy, in which cancer is treated by inducing immune cells to attack it. In this research, I will work on the development of nanoparticles that work as so-called "artificial cancer vaccines" to further activate and enhance the function of immune cells that attack cancer. In collaboration with Professor Teruhiko Matsubara of the Faculty of Science and Engineering, who specializes in nano-engineering, we will establish a new treatment method with superior therapeutic effects. With this grant, we intend to establish basic research findings and aim to apply them as early as possible to clinical practice.
Tomohisa Sujino
Thank you for selecting me for the KGRI Challenge Grant. In an increasingly diverse and complex society, where cross-disciplinary knowledge and ideas are necessary, we believe that thinking and research activities that integrate the humanities and sciences are crucial. Our aim is to identify commonalities and non-commonalities between the dynamism of human beings as a whole and social phenomena such as poverty, population movements, and economic activities by examining life science phenomena from the perspectives of medicine and science. This project (OIST-Keio Academic Collaboration) aims to establish a new academic field and methodologies together with project members from the image analysis team at OIST and the medical, literature, law, and economics teams at Keio University.
Yuta Sugiura
Thank you very much for selecting me for the KGRI Challenge Grant. In recent years, earphones and other types of hearables have been evolving rapidly, and there are growing expectations for them not only as a music listening experience but also as a user interface that can seamlessly and constantly connect the real and information environments. In light of this background, it is important to explore the potential of hearables and further investigate their impact on people. During this research period, we will address the challenge of estimating orthopedic-related diseases using sensors built into the hearables. This challenge grant program also includes several events where grantees can interact with each other, and we hope to proactively implement cross-disciplinary collaboration at such events.
