Interdisciplinary Approach to Education and Research in Computer Science and Information Technology at Waseda University

Qun+Jin

Abstract： This paper introduces education and research in the wide academic areas of computer science and information technology at Waseda University， one of the two top private universities in Japan. It focuses on its unique and advanced features of interdisciplinary approach to cutting-edge ICT education and research.

Key words： computer education and research； ICT； interdisciplinary approach； cultivation of global talents； international collaboration

1 Brief Overview of the University

Waseda University was established in 1882， after the location in the village of Waseda. It is the second largest institution of higher education in Japan， with more than 52 000 student enrollment including over 5 000 international students [1]. The university operates 13 undergraduate schools， 22 graduate or professional schools， and a number of affiliated research institutes under 10 faculties.

As its founding principles， Waseda University holds the preservation of the independence of learning， the promotion of the practical use of knowledge， and the cultivation of good citizens [2]， which in todays context of globalization also means good global citizenship. The universitys culture and traditions have been evolving over one century， however the three founding principles remain unchanged. Under these principles， the university is resolutely committed to contribute to learning of the world by regarding freedom of research as essential. It devotes itself constantly to original research and has established a path for practical use of knowledge as well as pursuing theoretical research. The university cultivates people of character who can respect individuality， develop themselves and their families， benefit the nation and society， and be active in the world at large [2].

Waseda University has steadily promoted scientific education and academic research under these three founding principles. In a larger sense， as an academic institution， the university has to be useful for construction of the modern nation or modernization of the nation. Hence the founding principle of the practical use of knowledge focuses not on shallow pragmatism but the spirit of progressivism. The university attaches a high value on the practical use of knowledge. The independence of learning is tightly connected with a critical mind in order to cultivate students becoming global leaders who are independent， capable and functional in the continually changing international environment.

2 Promoting Interdisciplinary Education and Research in Computer Science and Information Technology

As a comprehensive university， education and research at Waseda University cover almost all major disciplines in arts， humanities， social sciences， natural sciences and applied sciences （engineering and technologies）. Physical Science was one of the departments established at the very beginning when the university was founded. School of Science and Engineering was established later in 1909. Now there are three science and engineering schools （namely Graduate School of Fundamental Science and Engineering， School of Creative Science and Engineering， and School of Advanced Science and Engineering） for undergraduate study. There are more graduate schools and interdisciplinary schools， such as Graduate School of Information， Production and System， School of International Liberal Studies， and School of Human Sciences， where education and research related to information science， computer science， and information communication technology （ICT） are extensively provided and engaged. In addition to the emphasis on the practical use of knowledge， the promotion of interdisciplinary education and research is another important feature worthy to be noted.

In the School of Fundamental Science and Engineering， we have the Department of Computer Science and Engineering and the Department of Communications and Computer Engineering. In the Graduate School of Fundamental Science and Engineering， we have an integrated Department of Computer Science and Communications Engineering to provide both undergraduate and graduate students with comprehensive study of fundamental information and computer science knowledge as well as cutting-edge hardware， software and communication technologies [3]. These departments aim to cultivate talents who can contribute to the development of world-class technology， especially in the fields such as hardware/software co-design， advanced microprocessor architecture， SoC （System on a Chip） architecture design， contextual， interactive， and social information access， QoS （Quality of Service）， QoE （Quality of Experience） and new-generation telecommunication networks， network security and cyber defense， perceptual computing， human behavior processing， bio-signal processing for emotion understanding， big data analysis， media intelligence， optimization and machine learning， etc. Moreover， international programs that allow students， recruited worldwide， to earn degrees through a global-standard curriculum taught entirely in the English language， have been provided in the school since September 2010 [4].

In addition to these departments， interdisciplinary education and research related to fundamentals and applications of computer science and information communication technology are undertaken across other departments and schools， such as the Department of Intermedia Art and Science in the same school， the graduate program for embodiment informatics [5] in the graduate school， the Department of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering， the Department of Electrical Engineering and Bioscience， the Department of Integrative Bioscience and Biomedical Engineering， the cooperative majors in advanced biomedical sciences， and the cooperative majors in advanced health science at the School of Advanced Science and Engineering [6]， the three fields of study， including information architecture， production systems， and integrated systems， in the Graduate School of Information， Production and Systems [7]， and the Department of Human Informatics and Cognitive Sciences at the School of Human Sciences [8].

The graduate program for embodiment informatics， selected as part of the program for leading graduate schools initiative by Ministry of Education， Culture， Sports， Science and Technology （MEXT） and Japan Society for the Promotion of Science （JSPS） and started in 2013， is an integrated five-year program [5]. Upon completion， a PhD degree will be conferred. The purpose of the program for leading graduate schools is to foster leaders who can proactively set goals and achieve them， and take the lead in challenging and solving societal issues with extensive international and interdisciplinary perspectives across the spectrum of industry， government， and academia [9]. The graduate program at Waseda University was provided based upon the past experience and achievements obtained through its robotics research. For example， the first humanoid robot in the world， WABOT-1， was developed at Waseda University in 1973 through collaboration between the professors in mechanical engineering and computer science and engineering. WABOT-2， a robot capable of playing a keyboard， was created in 1984， and Hadaly-2， a human-friendly robot， was built in 1984. All of these robots are successful results of collaborations of robotics and ICT across the boundaries of several academic disciplines. The university has gained good reputation as an international research center that leads the worlds robotics research and creates new cultures and industries around its robot technology. The graduate program for embodiment informatics aspires to build a frontier research hub open to the world and to create innovation by expanding cooperation and fusion among the research fields of robotics， ICT and more other disciplines.

3 Promoting Industry-Academia-Government Collaboration and Acting as a State-of-the-art Educational Research Base for the Asia-Pacific Region

The Graduate School of Information， Production and Systems， with its campus located in Kitakyushu， a city in southwestern Japan with a manufacturing tradition of more than 100 years， features international， diverse， and interdisciplinary education and research programs that place a high priority on industry-university-government collaboration. The school makes strong efforts to apply the benefits of its research back into the region and contributes to the R&D innovation and the creation of new industries as well. Many of the faculty members have a career working at leading Japanese or global companies before joining the university.

The graduate school aims to act as a state-of-the-art educational research base for the Asia-Pacific region [6]. It actively pursues tie-ups and research exchanges with top-class universities and research institutions throughout the world， primarily leading universities in Asia， such as Tsinghua University， Zhejiang University， Shanghai Jiao Tong University， Fudan University， Nanjing University， and Wuhan University. Nearly 80% of the students are international students， mainly recruited from Asian countries， such as China， Republic of Korea， Thailand， Malaysia， and so on. It is a very stimulating international academic environment.

Through the courses and programs provided by the three inter-connected fields of study， namely information architecture， production systems， and integrated systems， students can acquire advanced expertise broadly across a variety of research areas. To mention a few of them， the information architecture field puts special emphasis on conceiving brand-new uses of information， while covering almost the entire research field of information and communication technology from communication media to management engineering. It is actively engaged in research on information and system technologies that enable the upcoming smart society. The production systems field tackles emerging issues and challenging problems related to production systems for the 21th century. It focuses on both theoretical methodologies and advanced ICT technologies， in an extensive range of technical domains related to all manufacturing activities， from fundamental development to materials， assembly， manufacture， and from measurement to control， diagnosis， logistics， and management. And the integrated systems field works positively on the state-of-the-art LSI design and applications， covering a wide area from hardware to software to applications， such as machine design and mechatronics， sensors， MEMS （Micro Electro Mechanical Systems） and advanced materials， intelligent process control systems， process monitoring and equipment management， energy and environment development， and information systems for management and production [7].

4 Well-being Oriented Education and Research Practice at Department of Human Informatics and Cognitive Sciences

The interdisciplinary feature at the School of Human Sciences， straddling multiple areas of humanities， social sciences， natural sciences and engineering， is considerably different from that at the science and engineering schools， where interdiscipline mostly means collaborations across two or more traditional disciplines in science and engineering or across two or more research fields of applied sciences and/or engineering. With its relatively short history， the school was newly established in 1987 as the centenary celebration of the university foundation， to tackle emerging societal and global issues and urgent challenges faced by humanity in the 21st century from a comprehensive perspective and in a holistic way， so as to pursue human well-being or welfare [8]. As it is known， science and technology developed rapidly in the 20th century， and the academic systems have been compartmentalized and specialized into narrow fields of study， which results in the weaker links between related fields， hence lack of a comprehensive or diverse perspective to consider fundamental human questions. The School of Human Sciences actively promotes its cross-disciplinary or transdisciplinary nature as a strength， and offers a flexible interdisciplinary curriculum in terms of the keywords such as “environment”， “health”， “welfare”， and “information”. It is of features， such as unconstrained by departmental limitations， for students to have a balanced blend of learning between the humanities and sciences from numerous perspectives with a focus on the deep and profound existence of humanity， so as to acquire broad knowledge， highly specialized skills， and more importantly， the ability to identify and solve problems on their own initiative. Data literacy is regarded as an essential ability， built up from the basics， for all the students to read and analyze using statistical techniques and cutting-edge information technology.

The Department of Human Informatics and Cognitive Sciences is one of the three departments in the school （the other two are Human Behavior and Environmental Sciences， and Health Sciences and Social Welfare）. The department covers several different research areas： informatics， cognitive science， ergonomics， educational technology， and communication. Two graduate programs， namely sensibility cognition and information systems， and education， communication and information science， are offered for both Master and PhD students. In the research and education， the entire process through which people obtain， convey， process， utilize and apply “information” is considered， and both machine information processing and human information processing are studied. Information is approached from a variety of multifaceted perspectives， such as methods for communicating information between people， devices used as the media or tool for communicating information， and the psychological changes that occur in communicating information [8].

In the School of Human Sciences， research is regarded as the educational practice， and research achievements are actively utilized in educational activities. E-learning is one of important research themes in the Department of Human Informatics and Cognitive Sciences. It leads educational technology research in Japan， in particular， development and construction of distance learning systems that utilize advanced information communication technology. In 2003， the school launched a degree-granting program （e-school） that fully uses Internet-based e-learning for recurrent and lifelong education. It was the first of its kind in Japan， and the most successful one in Japan.

5 Concluding Remarks

In 2012， on the occasion of the 130th anniversary of foundation， Waseda University adopted the strategic plan， Waseda Vision 150， to enhance its status as a leading global university and to make the next leap forward in the world by its 150th anniversary in 2032， with the goal of three "The Best"： The Best Education， The Best Research and The Best Community [10]. In 2014， "Waseda Goes Global" [11] was selected by the Ministry of Education， Culture， Sports， Science and Technology （MEXT） for the Top Global University Project， which aims at strengthening the international compatibility and competitiveness of higher education in Japan by providing prioritized support for top world-class and highly innovative universities that can lead Japanese academia in the global era [12]. Waseda University is one of only two private universities to qualify with 11 national universities in the most exclusive Type A category. “Waseda Goes Global” is a ten-year plan dedicated to connect the university even more closely with the world to build a global network of learning that is open， dynamic and diverse， with concrete numerical targets， such as witnessing 100 000 graduates trained for global leadership， and securing a top 100 global ranking in at least 18 of its 25 research areas. Moreover， the university has been making great efforts to double the number of international students to 10 000 and encourage all of its students to study abroad before graduation.

Waseda University ranked No.1 for graduate employability in Japan， No. 6 in Asia and No. 26 in the world， according to the QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2017 released in November 2016 [13]. The ranking is calculated from a combination of measures such as employer reputation， partnerships with employers， alumni outcomes， employer-student connections and graduate employment rate. The result shows talented performance and high reputation of its graduates as global leaders. The faculty of the university is also well-established， and top-class in many related academic disciplines. For example， Professor Hironori Kasahara of Department of Computer Science and Engineering has been voted IEEE Computer Society 2017 President-Elect （2018 President） [14]. He was elected to IEEE fellow for his contributions in developing the worlds highest-performing multicore processors and power-reducing parallelized compiler for multicore processors. He will become the first president from Japan in the societys 70-year history.

Traditionally， Waseda University maintains a close relationship with China. As early as in 1905， a school was specially established to accept and accommodate Chinese students from the Qing Dynasty. Among more than 5 000 international students now studying at the university， nearly half are from China. For international academic exchange for both students and faculty members， Waseda University has 458 university-wide agreements with 531 partner universities/institutions would wide in 84 countries as of November 2016， among which 49 are from China. For example， Waseda University hosts the postgraduate study abroad program by China Scholarship Council （CSC）. In addition， it has departmental agreements with 102 institutions in China. The university hosts hundreds of visiting scholars from all over the world， including many from Chinese universities and research institutions.

In a summary， this article has introduced some aspects on education and research at Waseda University， particularly on interdisciplinary approach and features related to information science， computer science， and information communication technology. As a comprehensive university， Waseda University serves the best possible environment for learning not only in the fields of computer science and information technology but also all other academic disciplines. It attracts students and scholars throughout Japan and all around the world with its diverse， multicultural and easygoing atmosphere for study， work and visit.

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