Dr. Yuika Ueda, Graduate School of Engineering Science
Crossing boundaries: a journey from industry to becoming a Global Engineering Scientist
Dr. Yuika Ueda has just earned her doctoral degree this March. After completing her master’s degree from the Graduate School of Engineering Science at The University of Osaka in 2022, she began her career at one of Japan’s leading general trading companies. She later chose to return to academia and embark on a new path as a researcher. What led her to make this significant career change? In this article, we share the story of her journey.
Understanding cellular adaptation: exploring the flexibility of life
Dr. Ueda is now pursuing research on living cells, especially their remarkable ability to adapt. Her work focuses on how cells detect changes in their environment and reorganize themselves in response. Coming from a background in mechanobiology, she became fascinated by the contrast between machines and living systems. Artifacts such as automobiles and robots are efficient and robust, but they are often vulnerable to unexpected change. Living organisms, by contrast, may not always be as efficient, yet they possess a unique capacity to flexibly alter their structure and function in order to survive.
This question what makes living systems so adaptable lies at the heart of her research. By combining biology with engineering and physics, she seeks to uncover the mechanisms behind cellular adaptation and identify the key physical properties that make such flexibility possible. Her laboratory’s interdisciplinary approach, integrating measurement, physics, mathematics, and molecular biology, provides the ideal environment for this work. Dr. Ueda also sees broader significance in this research: understanding cellular adaptation may eventually contribute to new approaches in aging research, chronic disease, and even the development of bio-inspired materials capable of self-repair or environmental responsiveness.
A career in a general trading company: connecting technology and society
After earning her master’s degree at the university, Dr. Ueda chose to join a general trading company rather than immediately continuing into a doctoral program. Research had always interested her, and she had also considered research positions in institutes and industry. However, she was strongly drawn to the possibility of connecting cutting-edge science and technology with society.
The trading company offered exactly that kind of role. It allowed her to work across a wide range of fields and to engage with advanced technologies from a broader social and global perspective. This suited her curiosity, as she had long been interested not in only one narrow specialty, but in multiple fields and how they interact. During her time in business, she also met many professionals, especially overseas, who were using deep expertise, including PhDs, as a foundation for global careers. These encounters expanded her sense of possibility and gradually reshaped her view of her own future.
Research abroad at UCL - discovering science as a global language
A major turning point in Dr. Ueda’s journey came through her experiences abroad at University College London (UCL). During her first stay there as a doctoral student, she was deeply impressed by the international atmosphere of the lab, where researchers from all over the world worked together naturally. Although she did not consider herself especially confident in English at the time, she came to realize that research itself could function as a powerful common language.
Later, she independently reached out to another UCL laboratory after reading its papers, and successfully secured a longer research stay. There, she experienced firsthand how world-leading researchers pursue bold and original questions. She found the environment intensely stimulating - seminars were constant, guests arrived from around the world, and discussions pushed her to think beyond conventional boundaries. One especially unforgettable moment came when a researcher in Germany contacted her after reading her paper. Meeting that researcher in person while in London made her feel that her work had truly crossed borders. It was a moment when she understood, very concretely, that science can connect people across countries, cultures, and languages.
The future she envisions - becoming a researcher connected to the world
Looking ahead, Dr. Ueda hopes to become a researcher who is deeply connected to the world. She believes that science has the power to transcend language, nationality, and background when the work is truthful and genuinely interesting. Her dream is not only to continue conducting research, but also to open up new interdisciplinary fields, bring together experts from different areas, and create new scientific possibilities through collaboration. In this sense, her career change from business back to research was not a detour, but a path that helped her define what she truly wanted to pursue.
(Right) With the plaque commemorating the prestigious JSPS Ikushi Prize in 2025
Message to current students
Dr. Ueda’s message to students is simple yet powerful, “value your curiosity, and do not be afraid to take a first step. Whether it is trying something new, talking to someone, or exploring an unfamiliar environment, even a small action can lead to opportunities far greater than you imagine.” For her, that first step changed the course of her life, and she hopes more students will discover where their own curiosity can lead.
Further information: https://researchmap.jp/u-yuika?lang=en