We will actively participate in social contribution activities, especially those that bring life science closer to elementary, middle, and high school students, to the extent that they do not interfere with our research and educational activities.

"International Brain Awareness Week" is a global campaign to raise public awareness of the importance of brain science research. In Japan, it is held mainly for high school students at various research institutes that study brain science, and it is also held as an open lecture at Gunma University. "The Gunma University Open Lecture International Brain Awareness Week 2020" will feature lectures by two brain science researchers in the morning and hands-on learning in numerous medical school laboratories in the afternoon. There are 14 hands-on training courses in different fields and technics, so please choose the course that interests you and join it. This is a chance to experience a part of research in an actual laboratory, which cannot be seen on the open campus. It is free to attend. We are looking forward to your participation if you are interested in brain science or research at a university.

Our lab is in charge of a hands-on learning corner under the theme of "Let's analyze lipids in the brain".
Neurons in the brain are surrounded by lipid bilayers, which are cell membranes composed mainly of lipids. It is important to understand the structure of the cell membrane in order to understand how information is transmitted in and between neurons. In this exercise, students are asked to extract lipids from the brain of mice and analyze them using a technique called thin-layer chromatography. They also visit the latest mass spectrometers (LC-MS/MS, GC-MS/MS) used for the analysis of lipids.

*We are very sorry to announce that the "International Brain Awareness Week 2020" has been canceled due to the impact of COVID-19.

(Reprinted from the official website of Gunma University)

Gunma University has been holding the Gunma Chibikko University since 2005 as part of its community contribution promotion project. In recent years, the number of opportunities for children to learn through actual experiences has decreased. Through experiential learning, we aimed to make children feel the fun and depth of learning with their five senses, and to nurture young buds of human resources who will lead the future of Japan and the world. Gunma Chibikko University is held. Although it is held for four days during the hot summer vacation, the average number of visitors per day is about 1,500, and the total number is about 6,000, making it one of the largest events at our university.

In FY 2019, Oshima and Minamishima from our lab participated in the event, which was a great success with 6,565 parents and children coming in four days.
Thank you very much to everyone who came to the event.

Minamishima will also participate in the 2020-2021 academic year as a deputy/principal investigator. Thank you very much.

*We are very sorry to announce that the "Gunma Chibikko University" has been canceled due to the impact of COVID-19.
*In 2021, the program will be held online (2021/08/02 - 2021/08/22).

Scientific research is a lifeline for countries like Japan where there are not rich in oil, minerals, and other resources, and its food self-sufficiency rate is low. With the hope that as many high school students as possible will go on to study natural science undergraduates to secure future leaders in life science research, the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST)'s Science Partnership Project (SPP), and other programs have been used to conduct the on-site classes at high schools.

Since we are using our blood tax money to conduct research, we are willing to actively accept public disclosure of our research results as well as lectures for the public (as long as they do not interfere with our main business). I hope that there will be more students who want to do basic research.

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