Gaining a logical way of thinking from classes that satisfied my intellectual curiosity. I want to give back something new to society through my research.

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From Tokyo Metropolitan Kokusai High School

Having spent her childhood in Germany and the UK as a returnee, she is exceptionally proficient in English. Although she was on a liberal arts track until high school, she discovered the appeal of science through a single experiment and is said to have made a bold shift to a science track for her future path. Stating that "English can be used not only for jobs like interpreting but also for reading and writing research papers," she now utilizes her English skills in a different way. How did she, once a liberal arts student, overcome the entrance exams for a science field, and how is she enjoying her university life? We asked her about the distinctive classes and club activities at the Department of Chemistry in the Keio University Faculty of Science and Technology, and other things that support her current research life.

[*] Academic year at the time of the interview (July 2019).

I attended a high school that focused on English education because I planned to leverage my strength as a returnee to pursue a career such as an interpreter. At times, I had seven English classes a week, and with activities like discussions in English and camps where we only spoke English, my high school years were truly an immersion in the language. In particular, I put a lot of effort into the English debate tournaments held twice a year, spending several weeks preparing for them.

However, although I was good at English, I hadn't formally studied grammar thoroughly before. Learning set phrases and grammar carefully for the first time in high school and then actually using that English in debates helped improve my language skills. Furthermore, the experience of debating, which involves thinking about a single topic from multiple perspectives, is also beneficial to my current research activities.

In my high school chemistry class, there was an experiment to synthesize fibers called the "Nylon 6,6 Synthesis Experiment," and that's where I discovered the appeal of science. It was a very simple experiment using a test tube, but I became interested in the reasons behind the reaction happening before my eyes. In high school textbooks, you only learn the chemical formula that "this synthesis is composed of A + B → C," but I wanted to delve deeper into the mechanism of why this experiment wasn't "A + B → D." This question was beyond the scope of high school classes, so I thought I would like to study science at university. Since my proficiency in English could also be used for reading and writing research papers, I decided to pursue a path in the sciences.

I started studying seriously for the exams around the fall of my second year of high school. Since I wasn't in any clubs, I attended a prep school and focused on my exam studies. What I paid particular attention to was tackling my weak subjects. University entrance exams are decided by the total score, right? In my case, while my English was within the passing range, my weak subject, math, was pulling down my deviation score, so I made a point of setting aside time to work on it. It's more strategic to raise a weak subject's score from 50 to 58 than to raise a strong subject's score from 70 to 75.

Also, what I want to tell high school students now is that "you should proactively ask your teachers about anything you're curious about." High school is short, only three years, so it's more efficient to ask a teacher than to look things up yourself. I think it would be good to ask your teachers not just about your studies, but also about things you feel or wonder about in your daily life.

It was because I had gotten used to life in Japan and wanted to study science in Japanese. Another deciding factor was that I wanted to go to a university that didn't only have science and engineering faculties. If I wanted to master only science, a specialized science university would have been the best choice, but I wanted to broaden my horizons at a university that also had liberal arts faculties. Although my intention to pursue a science track was firm, I wanted to keep various possibilities open for myself rather than just studying a specialized field. One of the universities that matched these hopes was Keio University. I had heard that among the many universities, "Keio University attracts excellent students from all over the country," so I decided to enroll, hoping to gain new values while competing and collaborating with high-level students.

I had a strong image of it being a place with many "glamorous" students, so before enrolling, I was very anxious about whether I would be able to fit in. However, once I actually enrolled, I felt that there were many people who were brilliant on the inside more than on the outside, who could logically explain their opinions to others. Because I had friends who would encourage me even when I felt like giving up on the high-level lectures, I was able to realize the joy of learning and the fun of knowing.

Also, what I felt was a big difference from high school was seeing students discussing the derivation of physics equations with their friends during breaks. Partly because my high school was predominantly liberal arts, I didn't have peers around me with whom I could discuss science-related topics. Basically, the research being conducted in any of the labs is at a world-class level. I think it's the perfect university for people who are eager to gain a wide variety of experiences.

I was a member of the Keio University Lieben Ski Club. In this club, we practiced to aim for top prizes in the "All-Japan Intercollegiate Iwatake Ski Tournament," and we also held ski camps for the children of Keio Yochisha Elementary School. I had experience with family skiing, but that was just for fun, so I wanted to try skiing as a sport where you can build group unity and work on one thing together. In my third year, I was involved in coaching members and managing the club as the training manager (a position like a vice-captain).

This also relates to my current research, but I like to do things efficiently, so if something bothered me, I would raise the issue without hesitation, even to upperclassmen. As a result, our team achieved four consecutive overall victories in the tournament. I learned that "enhancing team strength leads to efficient management."

And another thing that relates to my research is interacting with various people. If I only focused on academics, I would only interact with science students, so I joined the ski club to change my environment and interact with students from different faculties. Having a broad perspective is also important in research.

It was a class I took in my first year of undergrad called the "Global Leadership Seminar" [*]. It's very popular, with a 3-to-1 application ratio, and another feature is that there's a selection process based on an essay. The class is held twice a week. The first session is a lecture in Japanese by an external speaker. The themes were often unfamiliar, like earthquake insurance or philosophy, but in the second session, we would have a group discussion in English about our questions and thoughts after hearing the lecture. Interacting with people who had abilities I didn't, such as students who could explain things logically or those who thought from perspectives I couldn't imagine, was a precious time that made me think, "I'm so glad I came to this university!"

Currently, I have to present my research results to the faculty every few months, and this class, where we took in information in Japanese and produced output in English, is still useful today. I was originally not good at output, so it was a great opportunity to overcome that weakness.

[*] Global Leadership Seminar: A unique seminar-style class in the Faculty of Science and Technology where enrollees, in small classes of 30 or fewer, listen to lectures on four different themes during the semester and spend three weeks on each theme for in-depth discussions in both Japanese and English. Typically, Mondays are for listening to a lecture and Q&A in Japanese, and Thursdays are for discussing the same theme in English.

I am currently researching "metal nanoparticles," which are aggregates of several tens of atoms. The activity of nanoparticles changes significantly even with a difference of a single atom, so technology to control the number of atoms during synthesis is necessary. Therefore, my lab has independently developed a special device called a "microreactor," which is also used in areas like new drug research and development. We aim to synthesize "alloy nanoparticles" from gold and palladium.

Since metal nanoparticles have catalytic properties, they are also one of the means to solve environmental problems. They are not yet useful in daily life, but it is said that in the future they may be used to enhance the performance of electrodes in electric vehicles.

This research has been considered difficult for one person to conduct from an equipment standpoint, but conducting experiments with two people requires coordinating schedules. I thought that not being able to advance my research at my own pace would lead to a loss of time, so I created an environment where I could experiment alone, for instance by having the staff at the Keio University workshop create custom experimental equipment for me. It was the same when I was managing the ski club, but I just really like to do things efficiently.

I was torn between staying at the university or joining a company, but I ultimately chose to find a job because I wanted to "apply my research to the world." I received a job offer from a company that provides automotive technology, systems, and products to manufacturers worldwide, and I chose it because it met all of my desired conditions: "being able to use my knowledge of chemistry," "being able to work internationally," and "being a place where people who have mastered different specialized fields gather."

At university, you can learn chemistry from the fundamentals, but only a small part of what you learn in lectures can be applied to current research. Research is almost entirely outside the box, so I do thorough preliminary research myself by reading papers and other means. When I encounter a phenomenon that is not yet known, I have no choice but to figure it out myself through trial and error. In the future, I hope to apply the fundamentals of chemistry and the logical way of thinking I learned at Keio University to my work and give back to the world.