unesco biotechnology school in asia · the "unesco biotechnology school in asia" newly...

UNESCO Human Capacity Building Program in Life Science: Japanese Fund-In-Trust (JFIT) Program

UNESCO Biotechnology School in Asia

Multi-country operation program Master degree-awardable program Combined budget support by local/domestic and UNESCO budget

A. Introduction The "UNESCO Biotechnology School in Asia" newly

launched in October 2012, takes over the termination of 34-years-operation of the UNESCO International Postgraduate University Course in Microbiology (1973-2003) and UNESCO Postgraduate Inter-University Course in Biotechnology (2004-2007). This program is an activity of the “UNESCO Extra-budgetary Program for Human Resources and Research Network in Sciences and Technology”

supported by the Japanese Fund-In-Trust (JFIT). The course is a program for the scientific training of

young Asian university-graduates in the field of Biotechnology and related areas resulting in achieving master degree, and

the participants are expected to make significant contributions to an educational or scientific institution in the coming years in their home countries. It aims also to strengthen the network activities among the biotechnology scientists in the region.

The training is implemented through inter-universities cooperation in five countries (Japan, Indonesia, Philippines,

Thailand and Vietnam) involving five Japanese universities (Tohoku University, The University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, Osaka University and Kyushu University), two universities in Indonesia (Gadjah Mada University, and Bandung Institute of Technology), 4 universities in Philippines [University of the Philippines (Los Baños, Diliman and Manila), De La Salle

University, University of Santo Tomas, and Ateneo de Manila University], four universities and an institution in Thailand [Chulalongkorn University, Kasetsart University, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Mahidol

University, and the National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC, National Science and

Technology Development Agency)], and two universities in Vietnam (Vietnam National University Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City). The International Center for Biotechnology (ICBiotech, Osaka University) works as the secretariat. Particularly, it is expected to have several contributions from the leading researchers in Asian countries as supervisors, who are

alumni of the past program from the two UNESCO Courses either in Microbiology or in Biotechnology.

More information is available at homepages on http://www.icb.osaka-u.ac.jp/.

B. Purpose The purpose of the Course is to provide the participants

with a more profound education as well as a methodical preparation for their own research or educational activities in the field of Biotechnology and related areas. The course focuses mainly on biotechnology-related education and research, particularly related to “Sustainable Utilization of

Bioresources in Asia”.

Course participants, after successfully obtaining the required credits, will receive Master degree from the relevant universities of Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand or Vietnam. C. Program

The UNESCO Biotechnology School in Asia 2013 consists of the 2-year Master-degree awardable courses

(August/September 2013 - July/August 2015). Participants from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar or Mongolia etc will enroll into the master courses of universities in Indonesia, Thailand or Vietnam. During the first year of the relevant master course, participants (the Bachelor's degree-holding young researchers/post-graduate course students in the Asian

countries) will be equipped with contemporary expanding knowledge and technology for further development of skills and study for advanced research following the curricula of the relevant master courses. Only after the successful clearing of the required credits for the 1st year, participants will be allowed to move into the 2nd year of the master course.

In between the 1st year and the 2nd year, all the participants will be placed at Osaka University for about 10 days to have lectures of advanced biotechnology, as well as lectures of biodiversity, intellectual property rights, and business developments, which will be necessary to equip to be the future leaders in the field of biotechnology.

After the 10-days lecturing period at Osaka U, participants from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Mongolia, or Vietnam etc (category a) will return to their 1st-year university to continue the 2nd year of the master course. Participants from Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam (category b) will remain in Japan to perform their 2nd-year research. The

Program Outline of the Course is attached to this Prospectus as Annex 1.

D. Working Language The working language of the Course is English. Some

knowledge of Thai/Bahasa Indonesia will be helpful in daily life but it is not essential for the training purposes.

E. Admission Requirements The Course will be open to young scientists/students of

Asian Member States of UNESCO. 1) Applicants should have at least Bachelor's degree in the

field of biotechnology or related areas in the university, or

to be completing the Bachelor's degree before the enrollment. For those still in the undergraduate, a letter or recommendation by the supervisor to ascertain his/her successful graduation is required. (For applicants toward Gadjah Mada U, Bandung Institute of Technology and Vietnam universities, only those who completed

http://www.icb.osaka-u.ac.jp/

Bachelor’s degree at the stage of application can be

considered). Since this program is not aimed for postdoctoral research fellow, Ph.D. holders are not eligible to apply.

2) Applicants are required to possess certified proficiency in the use and understanding of the English language (see below F-5). Certificate of English proficiency (TOEFL,

TOEIC, IELTS etc) is essential. 3) Applicants are not to be older than 30 years as of October

1, 2013. Participants are expected to continue and pursue further

educational and/or research activities in their own countries after finishing the Course and to participate actively in the

Course alumni activities.

F. Application Each applicant should submit (by airmail) completed

application form (Annex 2) together with the documents listed below (only in English) (1 set of original and 5 sets of copies)

to the Secretary-General, Office of the UNESCO Course, c/o International Center for Biotechnology, Osaka University (full address see below). The deadline for receipt of application forms is the 14 January, 2013.

Privately made application forms are rejected. The application forms can be downloaded as Word/PDF files from

the Web site of ICBiotech. The application form must have as attachments the

following documents: 1) 6 copies of applicant’s photograph (4 cm x 6 cm) taken

within 6 months before the application date; 2) certificate of health (Annex 4);

3) academic records issued by the university (both at the undergraduate, and postgraduate levels, if applicable);

4) copy of latest diploma; 5) certificate of proficiency in English (TOEIC,TOEFL or

IELTS certificates are preferable); 6) leave permit; If employed, it is necessary to get a letter

from the Dean or Director of his/her institution or organization stating that the applicant’s leave from the present position is officially approved.

7) recommendation letters from two references (Annex 5); one of which should be from the applicants supervisor. Another reference, preferably and where possible, may

be from an alumnus of the UNESCO Courses either in Microbiology or Biotechnology.

8) a list of scientific papers and a thesis written/published by the applicant. Summary of each paper should also be included.

G. Mailing Address All materials for the application should be sent to the

following address: Secretariat Office for the UNESCO Course International Center for Biotechnology, Osaka University 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan Phone: +81-6-6879-7455

Fax: +81-6-6879-7454 E-mail address: [email protected]

More information is available at http://www.icb.osaka-u.ac.jp/

H. Selection The Selection Board, consisting of representatives of

each academic consortium from Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, on behalf of the Course Organizers, will select a maximum of 8-9 participants for the Course to enroll into master course from the 1st year, and a maximum of 5-6 participants to engage research training in

Japan for their M2 period for the batch 2013-2015. Applications will be considered individually on an international competitive basis after careful examination of all the documents submitted. There is no country quota. All applications received will be individually acknowledged. Each applicant will be informed, at the end of March 2013, of the

results of the selection. The documents submitted by the applicants will not be returned.

I. Pledge Each participant is required to sign the pledge attached to

this prospectus (Annex 6) once he/she is admitted to the

Course.

J. Fellowship UNESCO in conjunction with universities of Indonesia,

Philippines and Thailand will offer each participant of the Course a scholarship*, tuition fee exemption, some support

on other university fees and a round trip air ticket (economy class) between his/her home country (a nearest international airport) and the destination country to study master course.

The amount of a monthly scholarship is as follows: 1) During stay in Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam: about

30,000 Japanese Yen**

2) During stay in Japan: 120,000 Japanese Yen *The scholarship is subject to change without notice. **The scholarship amount can be different due to the policy of enrolled university. Participants through scholarship should by themselves

cover all living expenses including accommodation or visa

mailto:[email protected]


extension.

The stipend, though sufficient for one person, does not cover the payment of the living expenses of family members. The Course is not responsible for the expenses of accompanying person

K. Accommodation

The Secretariat of the Course will help to secure moderate accommodation for participants. There are no dormitories for the participants in Japanese universities. The rent has to be borne by participants themselves. Housing for those accompanied by family is very hard to find.

L. Medical Care

On travelling to the destination country to enroll into the assigned master course, participants are requested to purchase in their home country minimum 10-days travel insurance to cover both unexpected bodily injury and diseases (Annex 7).

Once he/she enrolled into the master course of the relevant universities, participants should join insurance program which covers for (1) the expenses incurred due to bodily injury by any fortuitous and external accident and (2) the expenses for hospitalization, including employment of a professional nurse, and surgical operation. Participants

should discuss the insurance matter with the supervisors in the enrolled university.

M. Degree After satisfactory completion of the 2-years master

course, a Master’s degree will be awarded to each participant by the assigned university.

Annexes Annex 1: Program Outline Annex 2: Application Form

Annex 3: List of Research theme in Japan (for category-b applicants only)

Annex 4: Form of Health Certification Annex 5: Form for Recommendation Reference Annex 6: Pledge Annex 7: Form of Insurance Notification

International Center for Biotechnology, Osaka University 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan Phone: +81-6-6879-7455 FAX: +81-6-6879-7454 e-mail [email protected] Web http://www.icb.osaka-u.ac.jp/

Cooperative Research Station (CRS) in Southeast Asia, Osaka University

Room 529, Chalermprakiat Building, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University Rama VI, Bangkok 10400 Phone: +66-2-201-5920 FAX: +66-2-201-5926

mailto:[email protected]


UNESCO Biotechnology School in Asia 2013

Program Outline 1. Number of possible participants:

Category a) 8-9 trainees (nationality of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Mongolia, or Vietnam etc) to enroll into the Master course of Indonesia, Thailand, or Vietnam, and keep studying for 2 years in the course.

Category b) 5-6 trainees (nationality of Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand or Vietnam) to be trained for

their M2 period in Japan. 2. For the period of August/September 2013 – July/August 2015 (approximately 2 years).

Applicants belonging to category a) will enroll into one of the below Master courses from August/September 2013, and will complete the master course on July/August 2015. (Academic calendar may be different for each university and country) The scholarship during the M1 period will principally come from the accepting university/country, and that during the M2 period will come from UNESCO budget. Choose five destination university/country from the table below, and describe them with order of preference in your application form.

3. In the transfer period from M1 to M2 (tentatively in August 2014, for the period of 10 days),

opening of the Biotechnology School 2013 and lectures will be given at International Center for Biotechnology, Osaka U, Osaka, Japan. Participants belonging to both category a) and category b) will gather at Osaka U. Principally, air-fee as well as the daily expenses including accommodation fee for the 10-days stay in Osaka will be covered by the UNESCO budget.

4. After the 10-days stay in Osaka, participants belonging to category a) will go back to the country where he/she has been spending the M1 period, and continues his/her M2 period to complete the master program.

5. Participants belonging to category b) will keep staying in Japan to do advanced research in universities in Japan until July/August 2015, and will return to their original university to complete the master

University or Institute

Abbreviation

Available slots

Name of Master Program taught in English Country

Gadjah Mada U GM 1 slot Biotechnology course, at School of Graduate Studies Indonesia

Bandung Institute of Technology ITB 1 slot Biotechnology course, at School of Life

Science and Technology Indonesia

Chulalongkorn U. CU 1 slot International Program of Applied Microbiology, at Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science

Thailand

King Mongkut’s U. of Technology Thonburi

KMUTT 2 slots Biotechnology course, at Division of Biotechnology, School of Bioresources and Technology

Thailand

Kasetsart U. KU 0-1 slot Microbiology course, at Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science Thailand

Mahidol U. MU 2 slots Biotechnology course, at Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science Thailand

Vietnam National U Hanoi

VNU-H 0-1 slot Biotechnology course, at Institute of Microbiology and Biotechnology Vietnam

Vietnam National U Ho Chi Minh City

VNU-HCM 0-1 slot Biotechnology course, at Department of Biotechnology, International University Vietnam

Annex 1

program. Research themes in Japan is shown in Annex 3. Applicants in the category b) should choose three research themes, and describe them with your order of preference in your application form.

6. Schematic outline of the program


Only Bachelor degree holders Doctor degree holdersXSelection

of participant

Enroll into

Master Course

1st Year of Master

ThailandIndonesia

PhilippinesVietnam

2nd Year of Master

ThailandIndonesia

PhilippinesVietnam

Japan

MSc

13-15 participants per batchSupport by

hostSupport by UNESCO +

Host

CambodiaLaos

MyanmarVietnam 10-days

stay at Osaka U

Name: Application form (Category a) 1/6

UNESCO BIOTECHNOLOGY SCHOOL IN ASIA 2013

Application for Admission

Please write in English, and type or print in block letter. Proper nouns/unique nouns should be written in full, and not be abbreviated.

Date: (Year) (Month) (Day)

Name in full:

Gender: □Male

Family name First name Middle name □Female

Name in Chinese character, if available.

Nationality Marital status Date of birth Age

□Single □Married

Year Month Day

Mailing address (Current address)

Postal code

Telephone Country Code Area Code Local No. Ext.

Facsimile

e-mail address

Present status, with the name of university (Faculty and Department) attending, or of employer

Name of the international airport in your country to depart to Indonesia/Thailand/Viet Nam

Address of nearest Japanese embassy to get your Japanese visa

Paste your passport photograph taken within the past 6 months.

Photo (4 x 6 cm)

Annex 2


Academic Background

Name and address of school Period of attendance

Degree or diploma awarded

Required years of

schooling

Elementary education or Elementary school

From: To:

Years

Secondary education or Lower secondary school

From: To:

Years

Upper secondary school

From: To:

Years

Higher education Undergraduate level (Department, Faculty and University)

From: To:

Years

Postgraduate level (Department, Faculty, and University)

From: To:

Years

Years

Years

Total years of schooling mentioned above Years

G.P.A. in your university*

(Both at undergraduate level and post-graduate level). such as 3.5/4.0 (full score)

Name of school Period of attendance Your G.P.A. score

Maximum G.P.A. score

in school

Undergraduate From ～To

Postgraduate From ～To

*Application will be effective only if academic transcript is attached.


Employment Record (Begin with the most recent employment, if applicable)

Name and address of organization Period of employment Position Type of work

Language Proficiency (Evaluate your level and fill in with an X where appropriate)

Excellent Good Poor

English

Bahasa Indonesia

Thai

Language Qualification (TOEFL, TOEIC, IELTS or others)

Name of the test

Date of the test Year Month Day

Score/Classification

Name of the test

Date of the test Year Month Day

Score/Classification


Family Background

Name Relationship Age Occupation Name of organization

Person to be notified, in case of emergency

Name in full Family name First name Middle name

Postal address

Telephone

Facsimile

e-mail address

Relationship

Occupation

Immigration records to Japan/Indonesia/Thailand/or Vietnam

Date Purpose From To

From To

From To

From To


University and Country

Choice of the university and country to enroll into the relevant master course

University Country

1

2

3

4

5

Indonesia (Gadjah Mada U or Bandung Institute of Technology); Thailand (Chulalongkorn U, Kasetsart U, King Mongkut's U Technology Thonburi (KMUTT), or Mahidol U); Vietnam (VN National U Hanoi, or VN National U Ho-Chi Minh City)

Research Background

Thesis title for undergraduate

study

Thesis title for postgraduate study

(if applicable)

List of research achievements List your research publications, item by item, stating author names, title of the publication, publication year,

journal or book name, volume, pages (from start to end).

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)


References (List two individuals who are familiar with your personality and ability, one of whom should be the applicant’s

supervisor. One of the references, preferably and where possible, may be an alumnus of the previous UNESCO Postgraduate University Course in Microbiology)

Name Position Affiliation and address

Describe briefly your prospects for work/research in your home country after finishing the Course

Certification

I certify that the foregoing statements are true and complete to the best of my knowledge and

belief, and understand that any willfully false statement is sufficient cause for rejection of the

application, or if I have been admitted to the UNESCO Biotechnology School in Asia, for the

dismissal from the Course.

Date: Signature of applicant:

Date: Signature of supervisor:

Annex 3 Fields and research plans at Osaka U

UNESCO Biotechnology School in Asia 1/10

Laboratory (Professor) University Laboratory of Dynamic Cell Biology (Prof. Kiichi Fukui)

Course of Biotechnology, Division of Advanced Science and Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University

Research field/Research plan Research field: Molecular analysis of a biodiesel plant To reconcile increasing energy consumption with worsening global environmental conditions is a fundamental concern of the contemporary society. Fossil fuel deposits are apidly diminishing, and their consumption raises carbon dioxide discharge levels. Alternative fuels, such as bioethanol and biodiesel, show great promise for alleviating the problems caused by the consumption of fossil fuel. Jatropha curcas L. is a plant belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae that is endemic to tropical America. It is now grown commercially in tropical and subtropical Africa and Asia. Jatropha has considerable potential for various uses including biofuels. The plant can grow at rainfall levels as low as 200 mm per annum. Medicinal compounds are found in various parts of the plant, but it is the potentially high yield of oil per unit land area, which is second only to oil palm, that makes Jatropha an outstanding biofuel plant. Furthermore, the quality of oil in its seeds is suitable for production of biodiesel as they contain more than 75% unsaturated fatty acids. Despite its cultivation throughout the tropical and subtropical world, the positive attributes of this plant are not fully understood in terms of breeding and utilization.

Research plan: Molecular Breeding of an Oil Bearing Plant, Jatropha curcas L. The whole genome of Jatropha curcas was sequenced, using a combination of the conventional Sanger method and new-generation multiplex sequencing methods. Total length of the non-redundant sequences thus obtained was 285 858 490 bp consisting of 120 586 contigs and 29 831 singlets. A high degree of microsynteny was observed with the genome of castor bean and, to a lesser extent, with those of soybean and Arabidopsis thaliana and a total of 21 225 unigene data have been generated. Further information on the genomic sequences and DNA markers is available at http://www.kazusa.or.jp/jatropha/. In parallel with genome sequencing, we are now attempting to use these DNA markers for molecular breeding of J. curcas by selecting suitable markers for useful traits. References (1) Sato, S. et al. DNA Res. 2012, 18, 65-76. (2) Khemkladngonen, N. et al. Plant Biotech. Rep. 2011, 5, 235-243.



Laboratory (Professor) University Laboratory of Bioresource Engineering (Prof. Eiichiro Fukusaki)


Research field/Research plan Research field: Prof. Eiichiro FUKUSAKI, PhD Specialty: Metabolomics, Metabolic profiling. especially challenging various application of metabolomics to practicable evaluation of quality of natural resources, industrial products, etc. Assoc. Prof. Takeshi BAMBA, PhD Specialty: Metabolomics, especially with supercritical fluid technology of supercritical fluid chromatography and supercritical fluid extraction Assist. Prof. Hisayo ONO, M.Eng Specialty: Food analytical chemistry, applied microbiology

Research plan: Metabolic fingerprint analysis for practicable quality evaluation of Indonesian herbal materials Chromatographic or spectroscopic data of clove bud, Eugenia caryophyllata, as an example of herbal materials, are obtained by using conventional equipments such as gas chromatography, and multivariate data analysis is performed.



Laboratory (Professor) University Laboratory of Molecular Genetics (Prof. Satoshi Harashima)


Research field/Research plan Research field: The main research interest of this laboratory is “yeast bioscience and biotechnology, especially elucidating the basic mechanisms of gene and genome regulation and their applications to the breeding of industrial microorganisms, yeast, "Saccharomyces cerevisiae".

Research plan: Title: Molecular breeding of yeast for cost-effective production of bioethanol Superior yeast strains resistant to multiple stresses including high temperature, low pH and ethanol is indispensable for efficient production of bioethanol. This project is to provide an opportunity to students in UNESCO Biotechnology School in Asia to challenge breeding such multiple-stress tolerant strains by exploiting extensive approaches with genetics and genomics.



Laboratory (Professor) University Laboratory of Bioprocess Systems Engineering (Prof. Masahiro Kino-oka)


Research field/Research plan Research field: Culture engineering of human stem cells The missions of "Bio-Process Systems Engineering" (BPSE) are (1) to bring a good fortune in human life through the elucidation and utilization of “bio-potential” by understanding sequential biological events (BioProcess) in the reaction field (Systems), and (2) to develop human resources of biochemical engineers. Our targets are the analysis, simulation, forecasting and control of various bioprocesses related to microorganisms as well as mammalian cells, and establishing methodologies for the utilization and application of the principles of such processes. We are also concerned with medical contribution, such as regenerative medicine including the production of cultured tissues. Our main topics, which are targeted for the biological elements (such as cytokines) governing the reactions as well as the regions (such as cells and tissues) providing the reaction field, are “The bioprocess design in tissue engineering by understanding the reconstruction of human tissues” and “The construction of novel process by understanding biological community in co-cultures”. The BPSE is conceived as an interdisciplinary technology supported by the above academic fields. BPSE can contribute to many bioproduction systems through mixed cultures, such as cultured tissues.

Research plan: Design of human cell culture process for clinical application Tissue engineered systems will play a key role in moving away from conventional surgeries by providing a new solution to tissue loss. Unlike traditional approaches for treatment of lost tissue or damaged organ function, tissue engineering enables to replace damaged tissue with regenerated tissue that is designed and constructed to meet the needs of each individual patient. The manufacturing processes for cultured tissue have to be constructed on the basis of a novel strategy when compared with conventional process including petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals. The raw materials and products for the manufacturing are cells themselves obtained from the patients (or the donors) and cultured tissues, respectively. In addition, the raw materials have heterogeneity depending on the state of patients and location of cell harvest, and the products are varied in size for individual patients. These features request the unique strategy in manufacturing process with minimum of raw materials and maximum of products. For the stability in manufacturing process of cultured human tissues and its quality control for clinical application, our interests include the design of culture operation (manufacturing process) and vessels (bioreactor) as well as the standardization of quality control for cell and tissues. Ref. M. Kino-oka and M. Taya: “Recent Developments in Processing Systems for Cell and Tissue Cultures toward Therapeutic Application”, J. Biosci. Bioeng., 108(4), 267-276 (2009).



Laboratory (Professor) University Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering (Prof. Hisao Ohtake)


Research field/Research plan Research field: Development of Bio-based Production Platform for Value-added Chemicals Biocatalytic production of value-added chemicals from renewable feedstocks has emerged as a practical alternative to the conventional chemical synthesis for the promotion sustainability of chemical industries. The best known among them is production of biofuels, represented by bioethanol, biobutanol, and biodiesel. The global demand for biofuels has been more and more increasing and intensive studies have been done for the development of novel production processes that enable “faster” and “more abundant” production. On the other hand, it is imaginable that production of more variety of chemical compounds, including polymers, pigments, food additives, and pharmaceuticals, will be the next challenge in this field. To achieve this, development of a “simpler” and “more universal” biocatalytic production system will be necessary. We have developed a novel technology, designated as “synthetic metabolic engineering”, for freely designing and constructing an artificial bio-synthetic pathway. Through the development and improvement of this technology, we aim to produce a variety of value-added chemicals on demand. See also, Ye, X. et al. (2012) Microbial Cell Factories, 11, 120

Research plan: In synthetic metabolic engineering, the recombinant mesophiles producing thermophilic enzymes are used as catalysts. Their use at high temperature results in denaturation of indigenous proteins and elimination of undesired side reactions; consequently, highly selective and stable biocatalytic modules can be readily prepared. By rationally combining those modules together, artificial synthetic pathways specialized for chemical manufacturing could be designed and constructed. To construct an artificial bio-synthetic pathway by synthetic metabolic engineering, four key steps are included: 1) appropriate selection of thermostable enzymes; 2) expression in mesophilic hosts (e.g., E. coli); 3) preheating of the cell suspension at high temperature (typically at 70°C for 30 min) to disrupt the cell membrane and to inactivate the indigenous host enzymes; and 4) rational combination of those catalytic modules at adequate ratio to achieve the stoichiometrical conversion. What you can learn through this project are; 1. Screening of novel enzymes from natural habitats 2. Enzyme purification and characterization 3. Gene cloning and its expression in recombinant microorganisms 4. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of chemical compounds 5. Chemical production by enzymes and/or microbial cells



Laboratory (Professor) University Laboratory of Bioenvironmental Science (Prof. Hajime Watanabe)


Research field/Research plan Research field: Establishing a sustainable society is one of the great modern concerns and the importance of an undegraded environment is well-recognized. Many chemicals have been released into the environment as a result of the great advances in synthetic chemistry that support our modern society. However, despite much concern about possible harmful effects of these chemicals, their actual biological effects on humans and wildlife remain unclear. It is self evident that to develop and use these chemicals properly understanding their effects on various organisms is essential. Our laboratory studies the biological responses elicited by environmental chemicals and is establishing a new system for evaluating how these chemicals affect humans and wildlife.

Research plan: Daphnia magna is one of the key organisms in aquatic system and it has been used for evaluation of chemical toxicity. However, sensitivity of Daphnia to chemicals varies depending on culture condition and other parameters, which may result in a discrepancy among the data obtained in different laboratories. It is thus necessary to establish a highly reproducible protocol for evaluating chemical toxicity. One of the possible themes is “Determination of critical parameters affecting the sensitivity of Daphnia to chemicals.” Especially effect of microbe on the sensitivity of Daphnia is one of the great interests.



Laboratory (Professor) University Laboratory of Molecular Biotechnology (Prof. Shigenori Kanaya)

Course of Material and Life Science, Division of Advanced Science and Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University

Research field/Research plan Research field: Protein Engineering Protein Engineering is a technology to create new proteins having purpose oriented functions. However, limited knowledge on structure-sequence-function relationships of proteins limits the application of this technology for industrial purposes. Extensive and comprehensive studies on structure-sequence-function relationships of a given protein are required to obtain information, which facilitates development of a method to design proteins with novel functions. To deepen our understanding on the structure-sequence-function relationships of proteins and to examine whether industrially useful enzymes can be created by the protein engineering technology, we use proteases, lipases, ribonucleases, and proline isomerases as a model protein and analyze their structures and functions in detail. Most of these enzymes are isolated from extremophiles, such as hyperthermophiles and psychrophiles, but some of them are isolated from environmental samples by the metagenomic approach. In addition, we construct the mutant proteins with improved function by the structure-based mutations and/or random mutagenesis followed by function-based screening (directed evolution). Research plan: Isolation of novel lipases/esterases from compost using metagenomic approach The purpose of this study is to isolate novel lipases/esterases from compost using metagenomic approach and to structurally and functionally characterize them. Lipases/esterases hydrolyze the carboxyl ester bonds to liberate fatty acids and alcohols in aqueous solutions. They have recently received much attention because of their potential applications for biodiesel production and polyester degradations. Novel lipases/esterases with high activity, high stability, high regio-selectivity, and/or high enantio-selectivity are potential candidates for various biotechnological applications. Compost is one of the promising genetic resources, because a large variety of microorganisms inhabit the compost. Therefore, it would be informative to examine whether novel lipase/esterase genes can be cloned from metagenomic DNA extracted from the compost. The experimental procedures are: 1) Construction of metagenomic DNA library and functional screening for the lipase/esterase genes, 2) Determination of the nucleotide sequences by transposon mutagenesis, 3) Overproduction, purification, and characterization, 4) Crystallization and X-ray crystallographic analyses. In the end, students will learn the techniques how to clone the gene of interest, overproduce and purify the recombinant protein, and analyze its enzymatic activity, biochemical and biophysical properties, and crystal structure.



Laboratory (Professor) University Laboratory of Applied Microbiology (Prof. Kazuhito Fujiyama)

International Center for Biotechnology, Osaka University

Research field/Research plan Research field: Recombinant human pharmaceutical proteins have been produced in heterologous hosts such as plants, insects and yeasts. Many biopharmaceutical proteins are posttranslationally modified. Especially, glycosylation contributes to stability and bioactivity of the proteins. Although plants, insects and yeasts have advantages of the economical productivity as bioreactors, the recombinant products actually have host-specific oligosaccharide, not human-type. This difference of the glycosylation pattern reduces the bioactivity than expected. To optimize recombinant bioproduction systems we try to construct plants, insects and yeasts with human-compatible glycosylation pathway using genetic engineering. In our lab, we are interested in tobacco plant/tobacco suspension culture, silkworm/insect celll and fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. So this challenge can facilitate human friendly-recombinant pharmaceutical proteins as “biosimilar” or “biobetter”. In addition to the above, we are also interested in oligo- and polysaccharide biology, namely i) structures in cell walls of unexplored yeast species such as basidiomycetous yeasts, and ii) bio-synthesis of monosaccharide used for glycosylation. Research plan: We can provide two possible projects. First project is related to sialic acid biology. Mammalian glycans have sialic acid at the non-reducing end, which plays some important roles in biological function of glycoproteins. In contrast, until now it has been thought that plants and insects have neither sialylated glycan nor sialic acid. However, a recent study demonstrated that Drosophila melanogaster has a sialic acid transferase which is active in vitro. This might suggest that insects have a sialic acid synthetic pathway. In this project, characterization of enzymes relating to the sialic acid synthesis from insects will be done. This will provide new information into construction of the humanized glycosylation machinery in insects. Second project is related to glycan structural analysis based on the taxonomic diversity of the basidiomycetous yeasts. The glycan structures can be one of the useful taxonomic criterions for the yeast taxonomic classifications. Indeed, the sugar compositions of the basidiomycetous yeast cell wall were actively analyzed for taxonomical aspects in 1990s. However, unlike ascomycetous yeast, the detailed glycan structures of basidiomycetous yeast species are still poorly understood. In this project we will analyze cell wall glycan structure of the basidiomycetous yeasts from the taxonomical aspects.



Laboratory (Professor) University Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology (Prof. Takuya Nihira)

International Center for Biotechnology, Osaka University

Research field/Research plan Research field: "Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology" aims to pursue the huge potential of microorganisms by means of molecular biological methodology. Target microorganisms are Gram-positive soil bacteria Actinomycetes and filamentous fungi, both of which are representative two groups of microorganisms producing versatile kinds of natural bioactive compounds. Since the discovery of penicillin which is produced by filamentous fungi, vast efforts have been poured on screening and finding novel bioactive compounds. Still, there are diseases which have no effective curing agents, and multidrug-resistant pathogens are emerging day by day, which demands us finding novel agents to combat against them. We aim to develop quicker, easier and more rational way to reach novel bioactive compounds by clarifying biosynthetic pathways, functions of participating enzymes, obtaining regulatory genes and establishing multi-step signaling cascade controlling the whole biosynthetic pathway of bioactive secondary metabolites. Research plan: Identification of genes involved in regulation or biosynthesis of interesting bioactive compounds from either actinomycetes or from filamentous fungi. Purification of novel bioactive compounds from culture broth, structure identification by means of spectroscopic analyses, such as NMR, and MS, and if possible clarification of the range of the bioactivity.



Laboratory (Professor) University Laboratory of Biomolecular Science and Engineering (Prof. Takeharu Nagai)

The Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research, Osaka University

Research field/Research plan Research field: The main research interest of this laboratory is deciphering the operating principle of biological nanosystems composed of countable number of bio-molecular elements. To this end, the research field in this laboratory is really inter-disciplinary ranging from protein engineering, optics, and cell biology as shown below. 1. Development of genetically-encoded “nano-sensor” to visualize biological functions in living cells 2. Development of genetically-encoded “nano-spy” to operate biological functions by light. 3. Development of novel state-of-the-art micro/nanoscopes. 4. Understanding sensing mechanism of chemo-attractant in Dictyostelium cells using as a model system,

in which small number of chemical input can induce robust and quick macroscopic output that cannot be done by means of conventional robotics.

Research plan: 1. Engineering fluorescent and chemiluminescent proteins to sense bio-molecules such as Ca2+ and cAMP,

and glucose, etc by conducting FRET (Fȍrster resonance energy transfer) between fluorescent proteins or using circularly permuted luminescent proteins.

2. Engineering photo-sensitive proteins such as rhodopsin and LOV domain of proteins for photo-operation of biological functions.

3. Construction of optical devices optimized for visualization and manipulation of bio-functions with high spatial and temporal resolution.

4. Understanding biological nanosystems through artificial control of cell behavior by light illumination in conjunction with real time imaging what’s going on inside cells at macro-, micro-, and nano-scopic (single molecule) levels.


CERTIFICATE OF HEALTH (to be filled out by physician)

NAME OF APPLICANT (Please Print) AGE DATE OF BIRTH SEX M F

ADDRESS

1. Height cm. Weight kg. Blood Type Blood Pressure: Sys. Dia. Pulse Rate Regular? Erythrocyte Sinking Ratio (per hour) : Reflexes: Pupil Knee Other Eye-Sight Left Right Color-Blindness Hearing

without glasses Yes ( ) Left : (with glasses) ( ) ( ) No Right :

2. Anamnesis: please indicate with + or - Tuberculosis............ Malaria.......... Rheumatic Fever........... Epilepsy....... Kidney Diseases........... Cardiac Diseases..... Diabetes ........ Allergy .....................….. Other Communicable Diseases................ 3. Present Conditions: please indicate with +, if you find any disease or abnormality, or with - , if not. Tonsils, Nose or Throat ............... Heart or Blood Vessels .......... Lungs, Respiratory System ............….. Stomach or Digestive System ..… Genito-Urinary System ......... Other Abdominal Organs ...............….. Brain or Nervous System ............ Blood or Endocrine System .. Bones, Joints or Locomotor System … Skin ............................................... Pregnancy .........................….. 4. If you have marked any item in 2 or 3 above with +, please describe in detail each disease, abnormality or

impairment, if the applicant is physically handicapped.

5. Describe in full conditions of applicant's lungs (including date of chest X-ray examination) :

6. Has the applicant ever suffered from any nervous, mental or constitutional disorder? If yes, describe it in detail.

7. Applicant was successfully vaccinated against small pox on

(date) Applicant was successfully inoculated against typhoid on (date)

8 In my opinion, the applicant's health and physical conditions are: (please check)

Excellent Good Fair Poor

9 In my opinion, the applicant is physically able to go abroad for study : (please check) Yes No

NAME and TITLE OF PHYSICIAN (Please Print)

ADDRESS

DATE SIGNATURE

Annex 4

FORM FOR RECOMMENDATION REFERENCE

Name of nominee

Name of recommender

Position

Affiliation

To: The Chairperson of the Organizing Committee of UNESCO Biotechnology School in Asia.

Date :

Signature :

Annex 5

P L E D G E

To: The Chairperson of the Organizing Committee of UNESCO Biotechnology School in Asia 2013

As a participant of the UNESCO Biotechnology School in Asia 2013

1. I understand that the Course aims to promote friendly relationship between Japan and Asian countries, and I will pledge myself to observe the following articles.

(1) To obey the rules of the university or the institution assigned and devote

myself to my study and research in order to accomplish the aim of the Course.

(2) To refrain from violating Japanese/Indonesian/Thai/Vietnam laws and

regulations.

(3) To refrain from disgracing trust of the Course participant and developing into dishonor.

(4) To accept responsibility for expenses incurred beyond those covered by the

scholarship granted.

(5) To accept responsibility for payment of any debts I might incur in Japan/ Indonesia/Thailand/Vietnam.

(6) To behave myself so that I may not disturb the social order in Japan/

Indonesia/Thailand/Vietnam, and not to participate in any political activities.

2. If I am judged by the Organizing Committee as having violated any of the articles

above, or as having made a false statement on my application documents, or as having been subject to disciplinary action by university/institution, or as having failed in my study, I will not lodge any complaint regarding the Organizing Committee’s judgment even though it involves the withdrawal of my status.

Witness should be either Dean of the Faculty, or Head of International Affairs of university

Date : Day Month Year Nationality : Applicant’s Signature : Applicant’s Name in Block Letters : Witness’s Signature : Witness’s Name in Block Letters : Witness’s position/Affiliation :

Annex 6

INSURANCE NOTIFICATION FORM

Date

Name

Name of Insurance Company

Contact detail of the company

Address

Telephone

Facsimile

Policy Holder

Policy No.

Plan Name

Plan Type

Duration Period From yy/mm/dd Until yy/mm/dd

Maximum Coverage US$

Deductible US$

Coinsurance US$

Out-of-Pocket Limit US$

Covering (US$)

Injury Sickness

Office Visit Prescription Drug

Hospitalization Periodic Health Exam

Emergency Care Outpatient Surgery

Annex ７

Please attach copy of the insurance contract/certificate.

Osaka University Kyoto University Kyushu University Tohoku University University of Tokyo

Chulalongkorn Univerisity Kasetsart University King Mongkut’s University of Technology, Thonburi National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Mahidol Univeristy

Institut Teknologi Bandung Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia Universitas Indonesia Universitas Gadjah Mada

Ateneo de Manila University De La Salle University University of Santo Tomas University of the Philippines, Diliman University of the Philippines, Los Banos University of the Philippines, Manila

Vietnam National University, Hanoi Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City

UNESCO Biotechnology School in Asia

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