Center for Advanced Research on Logic and Sensibility

Center Director: Shigeru Watanabe (Professor, Faculty of Letters)

Campus: Mita

This center aims to clarify the following points regarding sensibility and logic, which are the basis of human judgment, and to cultivate young researchers who will conduct such interdisciplinary research.

To achieve these goals, the center operates several facilities for education and research. In collaboration with the graduate schools, it has established project-based courses for graduate students with a multiple-supervisor system and regularly holds joint seminars for young researchers with its international partner institutions. Furthermore, it provides courses for training young researchers and offers support for writing academic papers in English.

■ Ongoing Activities from the Previous Fiscal Year: Background, Rationale, and Goals

Although fiscal year 2011 is the final year of this program, we will work to consolidate its achievements while fundamentally continuing the educational and research activities conducted to date. However, due to expenditures for the program's conclusion, the scale of activities will be reduced compared to previous years, and some seminars with international partner institutions will not be held.

■ New Activity Goals and Content for Fiscal Year 2011, and Background for Implementation

As this is the final year, no new major initiatives will be launched. However, the annual large-scale international symposium will be positioned as the culmination of five years of activity and will be held over three days, including participation from our international partner institutions.

■ Implementation Details for the Fiscal Year's Action Plan, Research Outcomes, and Degree of Achievement

As fiscal year 2011 is the final year, the central task is to integrate the research results to date and enable young researchers to present them. While we have held large-scale international symposiums annually, this year we will invite participation from all our international partner institutions. The symposium will be held over three days within Keio, and its proceedings will be published. Additionally, project-based courses and other support activities for young researchers will continue as before. Regarding the future of the center, we will work in close cooperation with the university corporation to establish a system that allows young researchers to continue their active research.

In fiscal year 2010, NIRS measurements of newborns began in earnest, leading to unprecedented results. In animal research, a cognitive study on mutant mice, conducted jointly with Kyushu University, was published, and a joint press release was issued by the two universities. Research on the painting preferences of Bengalese finches was also announced in a press release; the findings were reported at the "Pleasure of Beauty" symposium held in Paris and were also presented via video at the Darwin Day Symposium in India. Additionally, this fiscal year, as a new initiative, we co-hosted a lecture course on neuroeconomics with the Tamagawa University Global COE Program and Caltech, which led to productive discussions among many participants.