RPD
Research Promotion Division (RPD),
Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (ITbM), Nagoya University
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MoleQrious! is ITbM’s outreach team, striving daily to nurture a sense of curiosity about molecules and what they can do for us. We offer experiences and events to promote the understanding of molecules and the excitement of molecular research.
Our goals
The importance of genes is now well understood in society a mere half-century since the discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA. However, while the world around us is overflowing with molecules – as the tiniest functional units of a huge variety of materials including medicines, fertilizers and chemicals – general knowledge and understanding of molecules remains far below that of genetics. We understand that the sheer variety of molecules and the scale of some of the phenomena they are involved in makes them difficult to understand as an entity. It is our goal to demonstrate how tiny molecules go hand in hand with huge phenomena, and create a society where, despite the difference between their size and what they are capable of, how molecules quietly contribute to our daily lives is well understood.
Our achievements
Thus far, we have focused our efforts on spreading knowledge and understanding of molecules throughout society, offering opportunities for everyone from pre-school children to adults to experience the power of molecules first-hand through exhibitions, experience-based experiments and lectures.
Our paper chromatography experiment, which we have been conducting from the very beginning of our program, does not simply ask the participants to observe the bleeding and spreading of the ink. Through comparing dyes that are used in the real world and explaining the differences in their structures and functions, it generates and nurtures an understanding and consciousness of molecules’ sizes, shapes and functions. When our members give talks, for example to groups of adults or high school students, they always include explanations of molecules, their size, shape and function, helping to cement this understanding in every situation.
Our passion
With the creation in 2019 of an outreach team within the Institute involving both staff and students, plus conducting practical training and creating teaching materials, we take a communication-based approach to demonstrating the purpose of what ITbM does. These efforts are particularly focused on giving people the correct understanding of what molecules are, and helping to create a society based on logical thought. What drives us at ITbM is not just the simple fact that doing experiments is interesting, it is a constant desire to objectively understand how molecules are intimately connected to the phenomena that occur in our everyday lives. In order to construct a unifying consciousness and understanding of the connectedness of molecules and these phenomena that overcomes the sense of scale, we are endeavoring to create designs, images and aural experiences to stimulate each of the five senses.
1) Outreach at Science Agora
ITbM occupies a booth at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation’s annual Science Agora event, offering science fans in the Kanto region the opportunity to experience the power of molecules. We revise the contents of our exhibition every year based on our practical experiences. In particular, we try to create story-based projects that allow for communication and dialogue with those who participate. (Participants: around 200 per year, 1400 total)
2) Lectures at high schools
Starting in the Tokai area, we have visited high schools around the country, giving lectures on cutting edge scientific research which allow students to understand the truly exciting nature of molecular research, and the excitement and joy involved in being a researcher. These events, arranged as part of schools’ calendars, enable us to ignite the spark of interest in future researchers’ minds. (Participants: between 100 and 1400 per event, around 10000 in total)
3) Cooperation with SSH (super science high schools) events
ITbM members support high school students’ education by offering guidance and advice to schools that are part of the SSH scheme.
4) Outreach to local residents
Focusing on the Tokai area high school lectures, we collected questions from high school students into an online system, and held panel discussions in which we put these questions to our researchers. With the number of questions now exceeding 1000, and lecturers at the event also being able to respond to these questions, we worked to create a symposium founded on two-way communication. (Around 1000 participants)
ITbM’s members spoke about our research achievements, the function of molecules in the wider world and how our research will integrate with society going forward. (Around 40 participants)
A series of six lectures aimed at Nagoya residents. The top 6 researchers from the Institute spoke about breaking free from the yoke of past research practices and their excitement at being involved in cutting edge molecular research. (Around 25 participants each, 150 total)
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