Chemistry, a subject I've always loved. What I've learned and acquired through my daily research will be my strength, now and in the future.

Profile

Graduate of Oin High School, a private school in Tokyo

In high school, she was passionate about basketball. At the same time, she studied independently and successfully gained admission to the Keio University Faculty of Science and Technology, which she felt was "an environment where I could study the chemistry I love." At the university, while playing the viola in a classical music club, she also dedicated herself to her classes, proactively absorbing a wide range of knowledge. She chose the Chida-Sato Laboratory for her research, where she is involved in "organic synthetic chemistry," which artificially synthesizes rare natural compounds. In the lab, she immersed herself in her research with even greater passion, feeling that "everything I've studied has led to this." Her efforts paid off, and after graduation, she will pursue her desired career path in a research position.

[*] Academic year at the time of the interview (November 2017).

I was on the Basketball Team and dedicated myself to practice. While at school, all I thought about was the team. I would even go to the gym to practice during breaks. My teammates from that time are people I still get together with today. I believe that dedicating myself to the team with my friends was a truly wonderful experience.

The school itself had a culture that respected student autonomy. We were never forced to study, but many of my friends around me had high goals and studied hard, so I kept up with my studies daily to stay in that atmosphere. However, I only started studying seriously for entrance exams after retiring from my team in the fall of my second year of high school. In addition to the regular Juku I attended, I took courses at preparatory schools and participated in public mock exams to improve my grades.

My favorite subject was always chemistry. I found it fascinating that chemical reactions could create something new, and that's why I came to love it. Also, at my high school, more than half of the girls wanted to pursue science, so I was able to choose the science track without any particular hesitation. However, while I had a general direction of wanting to study chemistry in college, I hadn't decided on anything specific. That's why I thought a university where I could decide after learning various subjects, including liberal arts, would be good, and I chose Keio University. The "Gakumon" system, which allows you to postpone your final decision in a good way, was the perfect system for me.

Actually, at university, I joined a club in a completely different genre: classical music. I played the viola. The only instrument I had played before was the piano when I was little, and I touched a viola for the first time after joining the club. It was a completely unknown world, but I've always been the type to enjoy trying new things. In the end, I was able to perform in a concert. What I feel now is a sense of accomplishment from seeing it through. I'm glad I did it.

Besides the club, the Hiyoshi Campus, where I spent my first and second undergraduate years, had many students, and there were classes I took with students from other faculties. I believe I've become who I am today through the influence of the diverse values of the many friends I met there.

Also, the classes in my first year of undergraduate studies covered a wide range of topics and led to many discoveries. In particular, the "Introduction to Science and Technology" class, which invited outside lecturers, allowed me to learn not only the theoretical aspects but also how science and technology are applied in the real world. Seeing new technologies visibly contributing to society became a great source of motivation for me as I went on to study chemistry.

I had already decided to continue with chemistry, which I had always loved. I chose the Department of Applied Chemistry, which has an applied aspect close to the real world while also teaching the fundamentals, because I thought the societal results of technology would be more visible, much like in the "Introduction to Science and Technology" class. The attraction to creating the foundation for things that eventually become tangible has been an unchanging feeling since I first fell in love with chemistry. With that same feeling, I chose organic synthetic chemistry for my research in my fourth year of undergraduate studies. I had also decided long ago to go on to graduate school, so I settled in and devoted myself to my research.

In the natural world, there are "components that form the basis of medicines" created by plants and animals, but the amount that can be collected from nature is very small, making it impractical to actually produce and supply medicines to society using them. Therefore, the concept of organic synthesis is to artificially create these rare natural compounds using the power of chemistry. In practice, it's a painstaking process of considering combinations of reagents to convert one substance into another, and finding the optimal conditions by adjusting temperature, time, and other factors. We aim to increase the efficiency of the conversion by adjusting parameters while observing the reaction in the flask.

We start from a state of trial and error, thinking, "If I add this reagent to this substance, this should happen." But in reality, even if it's theoretically correct, it often doesn't lead to the desired result. Because the research is like that, the joy when a reaction proceeds as expected—the moment when "0" becomes "1"—is exceptional. From there, we go through more trial and error to bring that "1" closer to "100." In the reaction I'm currently working on, the yield now exceeds 90% under good conditions. This is a highly efficient reaction where 90% of the raw material becomes the target compound. It's deeply moving to have come this far. While my research is something that's difficult to explain to others by saying, "I made this," I find it very rewarding in the sense that I am part of the process of creating the foundation for something useful to society.

I've secured a research position at a chemical manufacturer. The specific department I'll be assigned to is still undecided, but I'm confident I'll be able to utilize the chemistry knowledge I've acquired. The ability to communicate my research to others, the autonomy to identify problems and find solutions on my own, and the habit of reverse-engineering from a product to consider the fundamental technologies required—all the selling points I mentioned during my job search were derived from my research. Looking back, I had anxieties when I first entered university and struggled with many aspects of theoretical study. But when I started getting involved in research in my fourth year, I felt like, "Everything I've studied up to now has led to this!" I believe I found an environment that fully satisfied the vague desire to "study chemistry" that I've had since high school.