Three Weeks to Experience Sophia University’s Research Institutes: Sophia Open Research Weeks

Takashi Okada
Vice President for Academic Research Affairs
Professor, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Human Sciences

Every November, the Sophia University Research Organization hosts the Sophia Open Research Weeks (SORW), an event where Sophia University and its affiliated research institutes present research. 2024 marks the 11th time this event is being held. The Vice President for Academic Research Affairs talks about this event, and how high school teachers and students can get involved.

Bringing the Work of Research Institutes Closer to the General Public

SORW is held for about three weeks every November. This event comprises of 20 to 30 events, including lectures, symposiums, workshops, and exhibitions held one after the other on campus or online by researchers from a wide range of academic fields. While other universities also have venues for disseminating their research, it is rare to be able to host such a large-scale event over three consecutive weeks.

For example, in 2023 alone, SORW content ranged from beginner-friendly lectures on SDGs, and the mysteries of the Japanese language, to those that would appeal to educators like supporting children with learning disabilities and understanding Japanese schools overseas, to highly specialized research into topics like “Sacredness in Islam,” and “Semiconductor Nanophotonics.” 2,486 people including researchers, undergraduates, and graduate students from Sophia University, as well as researchers and students from other universities, high school students, and the general public, participated in this event.

One of the goals of this event is to foster interaction between researchers. When researchers are introduced to research outside their own field of expertise, it creates opportunities for interdisciplinary collaborative research. Three weeks allows for events to be spread out and for more researchers to be exposed to multiple research topics.

The host of this event, the Sophia Research Organization, was established in 2005 with the aim of highlighting and disseminating Sophia University’s research. The Organization currently comprises of 15 research institutes and centers. Previously, calls for research to be presented at SORW was limited to within the Organization; however, in recent years, we have been encouraging those not affiliated with the Organization to participate as well, and the scope of the proposals is gradually expanding to encompass the entire university.

Now More than Ever, High School Students Need to Engage in Research

Of course, high school students and teachers are greatly welcome to participate in SORW. There are more opportunities now for high school students to dig into different subjects of interest during long holidays. However, high school students lack exposure to how research is conducted at a university, nonetheless at a research institute. Therefore, SORW presents students with the opportunity to learn about the level and content of research conducted by professional researchers, think about the subjects they want to study and the careers they want to pursue, and apply this to their research activities.

Students who attend will also gain an understanding of how a university’s field of expertise can be useful to the world. The various research projects aimed at solving a social issue demonstrates that Sophia University’s educational ethos of “for others, with others” is alive and well in its research. From the researchers’ work, students will be able to see how academic studies relate to the real world.

SORW is also an opportunity for high school students to see Sophia University as a place conducting outstanding research in a wide range of fields. Many people may know about Sophia’s faculty structure and curriculum, but few may know about our research content. I have heard that in recent years, high school students are choosing a university based on “what they want to research,” so I hope that students will expand their knowledge to the outstanding research that we do.

We also hope that high school teachers will use hot academic topics from this event in daily teaching, using it as a tool to extend learning of a certain unit or introduce a new perspective.

Discovering the World of Research Beyond Subject Boundaries

This year’s SORW program will be published on the SORW website at the end of October. Just by looking at the list of projects, you’ll notice that the themes are not typical high school subjects and often span two or more subjects – providing a glimpse of the breadth and freedom of the world of research.

While there are opportunities to take trial classes at Sophia’s open campus events, SORW is a chance for high school students to experience cutting-edge research in the same space as university students and researchers. Many events include question and answer sessions, so students can share their thoughts with researchers.

Some high school students may think that they can’t step into the realm of a university, or even the world of research, until becoming a university student. However, that is not the case, at least at Sophia University. I hope that high school students will get as close to research and the process of uncovering things that humanity does not yet understand, as soon as possible, and use it as fuel for thought for their futures.

Sophia University

For Others, With Others