Osaka University COI Site receives S+ rating

In 2013, Osaka University’s project “Developing Super Nippon-jin (Japanese) who can Fulfill Their Potential by Brain Management” was selected as the site of the Center of Innovation (COI) program, a funding program sponsored by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). This program supports challenging and high-risk R&D with the vision of what the world will look like in 10 years. This program aimed to realize an active, self-reliant society in which everyone can exhibit their potential and take on challenges out of their volition.

Various research institutes and corporations participated in this OU’s project as a COI team, including Osaka University as a hub institute and Kanazawa University as a satellite institute. The project started with defining a desirable society and setting challenges to be resolved in order to realize such a society. Research institutes in medicine, brain science, science and engineering, and companies, which achieve the practical application of research results, collaborated in R&D for the last 9 years.

In the 2020-21 academic year, this project shifted emphasis to childhood, the most important period for development of both mind and body, changing its name to “Realizing an Active, Self-reliant Society by Developing the Healthy Brain from the Early Child Development Stage."

The COI team made efforts to develop their research results into practical applications by local governments and corporations by establishing the following three themes:

• Improving Sleep Crucial for Infants' Brain Development,
• Increasing Independence and Sociability of Autistic Children, and
• Improving Children’s Educational Environment, Academic Performance, and Communication Ability

Furthermore, as a post-COI project, the COI team proceeded with a research project entitled “The Development of Internal Hydrogen Generation and Immune Activation by Si-based Agent,” developing it into a large-scale joint research project by the Institute for Open Innovation.

After this COI program ended, Osaka University and Kanazawa University created a collaborative innovation platform for creating continuous innovation in an inter-organizational, large-scale joint research system.

These achievements were positively evaluated, earning Osaka University COI site the highest score S+ in the post-project overall evaluations held at the end of the 2021-22 academic year, the final year of the program. (Individual evaluations: Vision of COI site: S; R&D and practical application of research results: S; Platform Building: S; Human Resource Development & Activity Promotion: S)

Osaka University will promote practical applications of the results of this 9-year project through expansion into clinical research as well as business transfer and technology transfer to private companies.