Two OU projects selected for the Multifaceted Investigation Challenge for New Normal Initiatives (MILLENNIA) Program in the Moonshot Research & Development Program

The government set 7 ambitious goals (known as Moonshot Goals) to solve social challenges, such as super-aging populations and global warming, and supports research and development for solving these issues under the Moonshot Research & Development Program.

The Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) looked for projects to achieve these Moonshot Programs by creating the MILLENNIA Program. After screening contributed ideas, JST selected 21 youth-focused teams in which team members investigate social issues, validate their proposed ideas, and determine specific goals.

From Osaka University, two projects were selected for the MILLENNIA Program. The leader of one project is student SAKUMA Hiroshi, and of the leaders of the 21 projects selected, he is the only student.

MILLENNIA Program

Project Title: Investigation research on science and technology to overcome the division of human society and achieve harmony

Team Leader: SAKUMA Hiroshi, Undergraduate Student, School of Engineering Science

Project Title: Research on the definition, measurement, guidance, and social implementation of ideal mental states based on traditional wisdom

Sub-Leader: MIURA Noriyuki, Professor, Graduate School of Information Science and Technology

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Osaka University researchers participating in Moonshot Goals of the Moonshot Research & Development Program (as of February 26, 2021)

Program Directors (PDs)

Moonshot Goal 6: Realization of a fault-tolerant universal quantum computer that will revolutionize economy, industry, and security by 2050

Program Director: KITAGAWA Masahiro (Professor, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University/Director, Center for Quantum Information and Quantum Biology)

Program Managers (PMs)

Moonshot Goal 1: Realization of a society in which human beings can be free from limitations of body, brain, space, and time by 2050.

R&D Project: The Realization of an Avatar-Symbiotic Society where Everyone can Perform Active Roles without Constraint
Program Manager: ISHIGURO Hiroshi (Professor, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University/Director, Symbiotic Intelligent Systems Research Center)

Moonshot Goal 2: Realization of ultra-early disease prediction and intervention by 2050.

R&D Project: Understanding and Control of Virus-Human Interaction Networks
Program Manager: MATSUURA Yoshiharu (Professor, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases )

Moonshot Goal 6: Realization of a fault-tolerant universal quantum computer that will revolutionize economy, industry, and security by 2050.

R&D Project: Quantum Cyberspace with Networked Quantum Computer
Program Manager: YAMAMOTO Takashi (Professor, Graduate School of Engineering Science)