The Life Science Department at Gakushuin University provides a highly integrative and collaborative environment, committed to teaching and research. Its activities cover the full spectrum of biological sciences, ranging from cell and molecular biology to plant biology and animal behavior.

Recently, the Department has begun to tackle topical biomedical problems such as food, environmental pollution and aging to deal with challenges facing modern Society, in particular those stemming from global demographic trends. Its innovative and holistic approach to these areas, represented by its newly-launched “Human Life” Program, results from merging expertise from the humanities (philosophy, law, archeology, psychology and economics) to deliver teaching that places cell and molecular functions and mechanisms in the broader perspective of contemporary societal challenges. In this way, the Department aims to equip students with the ability to develop solutions for our rapidly-changing world.

Hand-in-hand with its teaching program, the Department of Life Sciences promotes cutting-edge basic research focused on understanding specific aspects that contribute to the “mysteries of life". Development, regeneration, genetics, evolution, aging, protein structure, and Alzheimer’s disease lie at the core of its top-ranking professors’ interests, working in state-of-the-art facilities.

The Department welcomes the participation of students motivated to add to the Department’s dual mission of unravelling the secrets of life and applying discoveries in biology to improve the well-being of Society.