Biological Sciences

The Individual Research Training Senior (IRT Senior) Course is an advanced course of the Individual Research Training A (IRT A) course in the Tohoku University Junior Year Program in English (JYPE) in the fall semester. Though short-term international exchange students are not degree candidates at Tohoku University, a similar experience is offered by special arrangement. Students are required to submit: an abstract concerning the results of their IRT Senior project, a paper (A4, 20-30 pages) on their research at the end of the exchange term, and an oral presentation on the results of their IRT Senior project near the end of the term.

The course covers human psychological development from childhood to old age and methods used in research in development psychology. It describes theoretical perspectives on personality and related fields of application. The course consists of four modules:  Child psychology, where the psychological and biological development during childhood and how this development is affected by genetic factors and different living conditions. Some of the topics addressed are self-regulation, emotional attachment, social understanding, and friendship. Furthermore, the module covers the research methods used to generate knowledge of child development. Youth psychology where the psychological and biological development during adolescence and its relation to the surrounding environment is reviewed. The ability of the teenager to face challenges and stress factors, such as increased demands for independence and personal views are included. Module 3 covers Personality psychology and the individual differences and different personality functions of adult individuals, which are viewed from different theoretical perspectives. The theories are presented together with a critical review of methods, testing, and fields of application. Lastly. the deployments during adulthood and the aging process based on theories of developmental, personality and social psychology are reviewed. Different aspects of aging are addressed, such as stress, mental and physical health, and ill health.

The course covers human psychological development from childhood to old age and methods used in research in development psychology. It describes theoretical perspectives on personality and related fields of application. The course consists of four modules, this is the second module: Personality Psychology. The module covers the individual differences and different personality functions of adult individuals, which are viewed from different theoretical perspectives. The theories are presented together with a critical review of methods, testing, and fields of application.

This course builds an intellectual scaffolding for understanding human anatomy and physiology. The course approaches the subject with an evolutionary and comparative lens so that proximate "how" questions are understood in concert with ultimate "why" questions. Major themes include homeostasis among physiological systems; homology among structures and processes; seeing suboptimal or pathological adaptive solutions as the product of phylogenetic constraints or physiological trade-offs; and human adaptive plasticity in diverse environments. The course pays particular attention to chronic and metabolic pathologies in contemporary urban societies.

This course provides an overview of fisheries science. It focuses on the fundamentals of fisheries science as it relates broadly to marine biology, from molecules to ecosystems. The course is divided into two sections: Topics on Marine Ecology and Oceanography, and Topics on Physiology, Biochemistry and Genetics of Aquatic organisms.

This skills training course familiarizes students with skills and knowledge concerning human anatomy and histology. The histology part entails a practical introduction to virtual microscopy, followed by microscopic studies of the histology of blood vessels, individual cell types, and structures in diverse tissues of the circulatory, urinary, respiratory, and digestive tract where the computer serves as the microscope. All “virtual microscopy” and anatomy sessions have to be prepared at home using either a digital histology atlas (provided) and a PowerPoint manual with internet links to the sections and tasks, or an interactive online manual, also provided. Preparation takes between 2 to 4 hours per session. The histology sessions take place online. The macroscopy/anatomy sessions take place on campus and entail an introduction to the autopsy room. Students perform observatory studies on corpses, models, and human plastinates guided by a list of tasks and questions, part of which needs to be studied in advance at home. Preparation of each anatomy manual takes at least 2 hours. This course is designed to be taken in combination with SCI2009 Human Physiology.

This course offers a study of the anatomical knowledge needed to develop as a health science professional. It covers the different organs and systems within the human body. 

This is a challenging interdisciplinary first-year course, based on a series of high-profile, evening lectures given by prominent members of staff from the three Colleges. The course engages students in thinking about the global challenges that confront society, and makes them aware of the role of academic research and scholarship in meeting these challenges. Students are expected to address key global issues across discipline boundaries, and develop an understanding of the relevance and impact of their own subject in the broader context. Students in the course attend the public lectures, research the topics in depth, participate in facilitated group discussions on each topic, work in small groups to produce a collaborative project on a chosen topic, and produce an individual research report on an aspect which may be closer to their own subject area. Our Changing World is a pass/fail grade-only course.

Memory is a property of the living brain and operationally it is defined at the behavioral level. For the mechanistic analysis of memory it is important to distinguish between processes, such as memory consolidation and memory retrieval. In mammals, there are independent memory systems that involve distinct brain regions. Neuronal networks establish memories in the brain and distinct molecular and cellular processes within individual neurons are fundamental for memory. In this course, students study state-of-the-art knowledge of memory mechanisms at the molecular, cellular, network, anatomical and behavioral level. Students learn which experimental approaches are being applied to investigate these memory mechanism and they learn to critically reflect on these investigations. The course also covers how diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, affect memory mechanisms, and how memory abilities may be improved with pharmacological treatments.

Cells are the structural and functional units of living organisms. Understanding the basics of cell biology is essential for studying all areas of life sciences and any related branches of natural sciences. The main objective of this course is to learn the essential principles of cell biology by learning how the living cells are made and operating from a molecular perspective: especially, how DNA, RNA and proteins cooperatively work inside the cells to allow the maintenance, replication, and responses to stimuli. This course covers the textbook Essential Cell Biology together with Biology B, which will be held in the spring semester. 

Upon finishing this course, students will have a solid grasp of the structure of cells and how they replicate themselves, exert cellular functions and communicate with each other. More concretely, the course introduces intracellular structure and molecular dynamics inside cells, mechanisms of DNA replication, repair and recombination, gene expression and its regulation, and cellular signaling. In addition, the course also features the research topics of the instructors, all of whom are young biologists/biochemists in FRIS, so that students can get a glimpse of cutting-edge sciences.