About Us

The Open Research Facilities for Life Science and Technology (hereinafter referred to as the "ORFLT") was established at the School of Life Science and Technology for the purpose of promoting the sharing of advanced science-related equipment at a university-wide level. In 2017, as a forerunner to the joint ownership of advanced equipment, the university-industry collaboration Shimadzu Corporation Precision Analytical Instruments Room, designed to promote shared use, is located on the first floor of the B1 building of the Suzukakedai Campus. In the same year, the project was adopted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) to promote the sharing of advanced infrastructure. The facilities have been improved and the fiscal year of 2018, various shared equipment provided by laboratories in the School of Life Science and Technology became available for use on the first and third floors of the B1 and B2 buildings. Furthermore, in collaboration with the Center for Biological Resources and Informatics, which had already been established as a university-wide shared facility for biotechnology-related research and was widely used, the ORFLT has been made efforts to widely share various advanced life-science-related equipment that had not been shared by the university before, with the aim of contributing to the development of the university's life science field.

In FY2020, we started collaboration with the Open Facility Center (OFC), which was newly established in April of the same year as a department that oversees the promotion of equipment sharing and other research support for the entire university. In April 2021, the Center for Biological Resources and Informatics, which had been in charge of supporting research related to biotechnology throughout the university, was merged with the OFC. Taking this opportunity, we have been participating in the "Open Facility Center Equipment Sharing Promotion Group"  to promote the operation and use of the shared system, and are working to further promote a wide range of shared use at the university-wide level.

 

The office of the ORFLT is managed by the Research Planning and Promotion Council, which has been established in the School of Life Science and Technology. We also have three facultystaff members, including a professor, an associate professor, an assistant professor, and four technical/administrative support staff, in the office. A total of seven (7) are assigned to the office and maintain and manage the laboratories.

 

We have been supported by the MEXT for three years from 2017 to 2020 under the project for promotion of shared use of advanced infrastructures, and we have just made a new start toward independence in April 2020.

In addition to the maintenance and management of shared equipment and laboratories, we will further promote independence and the sharing of equipment related to life sciences through our own activities, such as the implementation of various joint research projects and the strengthening of commissioned work, so that we can contribute more to the education and research activities of the university.

 

 

Director Hiroyuki Ohta