Mission

Tadashi Uemura

Life science and related fields have now entered the era of "data-driven life science," which combines the acquisition of multifaceted large data sets, using state-of-the-art equipment, with analysis. This data-driven life science can be led by " two-way" human beings who not only acquire big data from biological samples, but also analyze the data by themselves using informatics approaches to extract, understand, and utilize the data to interpret the biological significance.

To date, the Research Center for Dynamic Living Systems has played a major role in acquiring large amounts of image data using cutting-edge microscopy, analyzing this data to systematically understand biological phenomena, and providing practical education on informatics-based analytical methods. At the same time, however, gene analysis instruments such as next-generation sequencers have been developing dramatically, and their use has spread throughout life-science research; consequently, the volume of genome-related data from diverse species, ranging from microorganisms to animals and plants, has been rapidly expanding. The training of young researchers to analyze such big data using informatics approaches has previously been carried out separately by individual graduate schools or by limited numbers of faculty members, and it has been challenging to strengthen education systems that integrate the data acquisition and the information analysis. Therefore, the Graduate School of Biostudies (GSB) has reorganized the Research Center for Dynamic Living Systems and established the Center for Living Systems Information Science (CeLiSIS) on April 1, 2023, to foster the training of "two-way" scientists on a university-wide basis. CeLiSIS also deals with data mining, statistics, mathematical modeling, in silico simulations, and quantitative image analysis. CeLiSIS is the platform that consolidates and systematizes informatics-based educational and research resources in life science, which were previously scattered throughout Kyoto University, and develops new programs in order to generate expert "two-way" researchers who can truly unite wet experimental approaches with informatics approaches, thereby leading data-driven life science. To achieve this goal, CeLiSIS collaborates with the Center for Innovative Research and Education in Data Science (CIREDS), affiliated with the Institute for Liberal Arts and Sciences, the core facility network including the Innovative Support Alliance for Life Sciences (iSAL) and the North Campus Instrumental Analysis Station (NOCIAS), other graduate schools, and institutes across the university campuses. Moreover, CeLiSIS interacts with other advanced external research organizations, including the DNA Data Bank of Japan (DDBJ) at the National Institute of Genetics, and the University of Zurich.