The Institute of Science and Engineering was established in 1955, with its main research activities of open-type project research, joint seminars involving joint research groups, and research incorporating large-scale test equipment, publishing the “Ritsumeikan University Institute of Science and Engineering Bulletin,” which announces the findings from such research, and holding public academic lectures and various types of symposiums, etc.
The large-scale test equipment incorporated by the Institute of Science and Engineering includes a system for ultrahigh resolution analysis and structural analysis, a powerful automated analyzer for X-rays, a system for bimolecular structures, and an SR photoelectron spectrometer, which are all being utilized in various kinds of research.
The Synchrotron Radiation Center was established in 1996 and is the only synchrotron radiation facility at a private university in Japan.
Synchrotron radiation is the powerful light that is emitted in a tangential direction when particles are accelerated up to the speed of light and become curved in a magnetic field. Synchrotron radiation covers a broad range of energy fields from infrared rays to X-rays, and active collaboration between industry, academia, and the government has been underway ever since the center’s establishment.
The VLSI Research Center, serving as an environment for cutting-edge VLSI* designs, promotes joint research with private companies, participates in national projects focused on embedded systems and LSI technologies, and engages in activities to support LSI design initiatives by venture companies and small and medium-sized enterprises.
*VLSI=Very Large Scale Integration
“Aiming for innovation in medical science and medical care through interdisciplinary research.”
Understanding the mechanisms of human body processes is important, not only for medical science and medical care, but also for maintaining a healthy mind and body. However, the body’s mechanisms are highly complex and extremely difficult to understand. Medical bio-simulation is a new method for resolving this, in which research findings, accumulated up until now, are input into a computer and the body’s processes are recreated on a computer. Bio-simulation will likely serve as an essential method for treating illnesses and maintaining health in the near future.
Frontier Research Center for Natural Disaster Mitigation
The Frontier Research Center for Natural Disaster Mitigation actively proposes effective natural disaster mitigation measures using interdisciplinary research teams. The Center aims to function as a core center for investigating disasters, etc., in regions recently affected by disasters (such as earthquakes and torrential rains), and as a core center for disaster mitigation education.
Since its launch in 2010, the Bio Medical Devices Center (BMDC) has brought together life innovation technologies across academic fields to promote research activities. Around 30 members come together to contribute to “life” through collaboration between advanced technologies in the areas of micro & nano machines and robotics, the spectrum of engineering research at which Ritsumeikan excels, and applied areas of pharmaceutical science, life sciences and sport and health science. Affiliated study groups mainly aiming at industry-academia collaboration actively work to deliver lab programs utilizing achievements from medical-pharmaceutical-engineering collaboration activities or MOT study sessions and other unique activities.
As global warming and other new environmental problems confronting Lake Biwa are coming into the spotlight, the Research Center for BIWAKO Σ promotes cross-disciplinary research incorporating environmental measurements and analyses, simulations, economic estimations, and policies that involve the government and residents, and contributes, not only to the environmental purification of Lake Biwa, but to the purification of freshwater environments around the world.
Advanced Micro/Nano System Technology Research Center
Through research in the field of micro and nano-technologies, with a focus on MEMS, the Advanced Micro/Nano System Technology Research Center aims to create next-generation micro and nano-devices that will help realize safe and secure societies and environmentally friendly societies, and the center also promotes manufacturing approaches that contribute to and give back to society.
Research Center for Drug Discovery and Development Science
The Research Center for Drug Discovery and Development Science implements programs for collaborative research and development activities among industry, academia, and the government, with a focus on the entire drug manufacturing process, from drug discovery to drug formulation, while advancing individual research in each of the research fields of drug discovery and drug formulation technologies. With three consortiums, based on the topics of drug discovery, drug development, and drug formulation, and two projects of “Research on Rare and Intractable Diseases” and “Research for Developing Electro and Photo-functional Materials through Atomic and Molecular Sequencing,” serving as pillars, the Center creates life innovations by offering project development support to all companies and information exchange sessions to members, and opportunities for fostering companies’ young researchers.
In 2002, we set up one of the pioneer research bases in Japan specialized in the areas of sport and wellness. To achieve our mission, we have conducted unique research. We also value and actively work on collaborative research with other universities and private businesses. As a result, we have earned research fund of about one billion yen in the last five years. As one of Japan's leading research bases for sport and wellness, our most important asset is our more than 40 researchers from a wide range of fields who perform important basic research through studies aiming at practical applications. We look forward to working with you to further promote health and wellness in the world.
Since Ritsumeikan launched the Robotics FA Research Center in 1994 with a view to enhance cooperation among industry, government, and academia, the university has strived to contribute to society through many research projects entrusted to us by business and the government. In 2014 the Research Center was reorganized and the "Robotics Research Center" was established with new members also joining the team. The Center’s primary goal is to find solutions to challenges or problems in society and industries. We seek solutions to general issues from the society and industries with the collective effort of our team of researchers from a wide range of fields, including mechanics, electronics, information, computational intelligence, and human engineering.
In order for a resource-poor Japan to achieve sustainable development into the future, efforts must be made to build innovative technologies that safely and stably supply energy, which is a source for industrial activity. The research and development capabilities of professors affiliated with Ritsumeikan University are concentrated at the Research Center for Energy-innovation Materials, and research and development are conducted on the materials needed to achieve energy innovation, as well as on the technologies for processing and using such materials.
Climate change has become an issue common to all of humanity. In order to accurately predict the future course of the climate, it is essential to understand “why” and “how” the climate changed in the past. Geological information provides important clues in this study. In particular, a special stratum called “varved sediment” has come under the spotlight in recent years, as the sequences of sedimentary laminations deposited within a year record ancient events with an accuracy of single year. Through its experience and expertise with technologies, Ritsumeikan Research Centre for Palaeoclimatology leads the world in the research of varved sediments.
The Center for Systems Vision Science is a research center where researchers collaborate from various fields, including not only the fields of experimental biology, mathematical modeling, and robotics, but also collaborate on research on human vision and optical illusions, to construct mathematical models needed in designs for visual regeneration and treating retinal diseases. Top-level experimental biologists, information technologists, engineers, and psychologists, from around the world, come together to construct models intended for use in medical and engineering applications. The Center aims, not only to improve the QOL* of retinal disease patients and the elderly, but also to make contributions in a broad range of vision-related fields such as image sensing technologies and visual environment designs found in everyday life.
*QOL＝Quality of Life
The Research Center for Biological Resources is a center for collaboration between industry, academia, the government, and citizens that aims for the effective utilization of biological resources. Researchers from every academic department and research organization on the Biwako-Kusatsu Campus are affiliated with the Center which uses collaboration between industry, academia, the government, and citizens to socially implement research findings on matters such as development of crop production technologies and technologies using microorganisms, preservation studies for species endemic to Lake Biwa, the application of big data in utilizing biological resources, and food education, as well as the construction of models for collaboration between food and agriculture, etc.
Ecological Technology & Management Research Center for the Energy and Environment Field
The Ecological Technology & Management Research Center for the Energy and Environment Field conducts research and development of component technologies for energy utilization and resource circulation, aiming to create sustainable societies that limit consumption of natural resources and reduce burdens on the environment as much as possible, as well as development of technologies for analyzing and evaluating social, economic, and environmental systems, which incorporates such component technologies and aims to use those findings to widely contribute to society.
Research Center of Advanced ICT for Medical and Healthcare
The creation of a medical and nursing care environment where high-quality medical and nursing care services can be obtained anywhere is currently a pressing issue in Japan. The Research Center of Advanced ICT for Medical and Healthcare works to convey new medical care and social approaches to the world, through research and development of underlying technologies in ICT (Information and Communication Technology) for providing patients comprehensive care from diagnostic support to surgery and treatment, as well as providing post-surgical care and follow-up examinations.
