Dean

My name is Yuichi Oike, and I have assumed the position of Dean of the Faculty of Life Sciences as of April 2023, succeeding Professor Kazuya Yamagata. I am deeply honored and humbled by this huge responsibility. I am determined to fulfill my responsibilities to the best of my ability so that I can return the favor to Kumamoto University for all it has extended to me.

In Japan, where national finances are in a state of crisis and the birthrate is declining at an accelerating rate, the roles and functions of individual universities are being questioned by society. Considering the fact that banks and financial firms, which are huge organizations, have been pushing for mergers and consolidation in order to survive as stronger companies, it is easy to imagine that universities will not be able to maintain their current form. In fact, there are already signs of a major trend toward cooperation and mergers among universities. Kumamoto University will also establish the Joint Research Center for Human Retrovirus Infectious Diseases with Kagoshima University in 2019 to conduct joint research across university boundaries. Furthermore, in a move to accelerate and expand this trend among regional universities, “inter-university collaboration” was included in the application requirements for the second supplementary budget of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s “Japan’s Premier Research University Formation Program (J-PEAKS)” for FY2022, and a large budget was allocated for this purpose. It is now clear that inter-university collaboration and cooperation are inevitable if we are to continue to exist as a research university. It goes without saying that in order for the Faculty of Life Sciences of Kumamoto University to continue to shine brightly and fulfill its mission of “creating new knowledge to create the future and contributing to the welfare of humanity and society through research activities,” the efforts of each department are essential. We also believe that it is essential for each department to become a “One Team” by combining their respective strengths across the boundaries of faculties, graduate schools, departments, and majors. With flexibility through imagination, strategy through information, and proactivity through action, we will overcome the various difficulties we are currently facing and create and develop a strong and bright School of Life Sciences where young people can play an active role in the future.

The responsibilities and workload of those responsible for education and research in life sciences (medical, health, and pharmaceutical sciences) are ever increasing. In addition, the repeated university reforms have led to increases in unexpected expenses. Many national universities, including our own, are struggling to cope with the limited financial resources for education and research, which are financed by subsidies for operating expenses. To keep up with other universities through the various reforms, Kumamoto University has established the Kuma-i-mon Fund (Kumamoto University Medical Education and Research Fund). We are deeply grateful for the generosity of many people who have contributed to this fund. We would like to ask for your continued understanding and support for the educational and research activities of the Faculty of Life Sciences at Kumamoto University.

April 2023

OIKE Yuichi Dean
Faculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto University