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Laboratory

In 2001, the Keio Research Institute at SFC recently introduced a laboratory system that utilizes research organizations, or laboratories that perform advanced research as active units for research.

Research activities at the Keio Research Institute at SFC are conducted mainly by research organizations called "laboratories" in addition to existing private research. These research organizations are established at the Keio Research Institute at SFC to conduct interdisciplinary and combined research activities and to promote exchange and cooperation between Japanese and overseas organizations. These research organizations consist of SFC personnel and researchers in the same research field who have organized laboratories and are engaged in research activities.
Establishment of laboratories having specific research missions helps to clarify the aim, objectives of research and activities. This makes it easier to meet the goals of the Keio Research Institute at SFC which are to interface with society and contribute our research results back to society.

Contract/joint-research currently being conducted at the Keio Research Institute at SFC may be done in collaboration with a corresponding laboratory. Those who wish to engage in contract/joint-research must first make sure if an appropriate laboratory is available to their research theme, and then proceed with the application procedures for the research theme.

Laboratories currently established are:

>> Completed laboratory




Career Resource Laboratory

This laboratory, through research on personal careers in an ever-changing environment, supports autonomous and sustainable learning to establish a learning community and to strengthen the competitiveness of participants' careers.


Internet Research Laboratory

The Internet will drastically change the governance of the existing social system, its basic functions including law, justice, administration, education and social welfare and their respective roles. This laboratory aims to combine actual society with the Internet.


Systems Biology Laboratory

("Bioinformatics Laboratory" has been renamed to "Systems Biology Laboratory" as of 1st April 2008.)


Auto-ID Laboratory

Auto-ID laboratory aims to evolve an international standard for Auto-ID technology through research, experiment, and application development focusing on networking issues.


Platform Design Laboratory

("ID Business and Social Model Research Laboratory" has been renamed to "Platform Design Laboratory" as of 1st October 2006.)
At our Laboratory, we look into platforms that play important roles in today's economy and society, exploring various factors including its definition, its possibilities within society, and its most appropriate method of operation. Through such research, we seek to explore how platforms can be best designed to achieve both creativity and continuity in its operation.


Agri-infoscience Laboratory

The Laboratory will focus on the tacit knowledge behind the productivity of Japan's skilled farmers, translate this into formal knowledge to be passed on and shared via an agricultural platform also to be generated by the Laboratory. The participation by IT companies in agriculture has been slow. By working with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, other agriculture research facilities and IT companies from both Japan and abroad, the Laboratory will aim to build a platform that utilizes information technology in an attempt to improve the efficiency of agricultural production both in Japan and abroad. The Laboratory will also be building stronger ties with farmers in the Endo district in Fujisawa City and other local Kanagawa and Kanto regions and promote activities with these communities as an SFC community partnership model.


AI Innovation laboratory

With Japan being slow to implement e-government, this research aims to develop and verify concrete methods aimed at the earliest possible implementation of "e- government" at the regional level. Main areas of research: 1. Development of human resources; 2. System development methods and techniques; 3. Framework for cooperation between industry, academia and government


Japan Studies Platform Laboratory

Our laboratory will focus on supporting students in Japan to gain the skills to understand other countries in their respective local languages. We will also work to develop an environment for international students and researchers to understand Japanese society and Japan-advocated policies in the Japanese language. These initiatives will be in collaboration with the International Strategy Committee.


Internet and Society Laboratory

This research laboratory will work in conjunction with those institutions by carrying out a comprehensive regime of research activities aimed at developing an open communication platform.


Health Science Laboratory

In preparation for the super-ageing society, a wide range of research, focusing on the theme of health has been conducted in many countries around the world. This global commitment will bring new perspectives in the area of "health" studies, and the knowledge acquired through such studies will be very effective in maintaining health conditions and the prevention of ageing. As a result, we can expect to see greater control over medical and care costs in society overall.
The Health Science Lab (HS Lab) was established in order to take the lead in these important endeavors in our role as advanced ageing country. This laboratory promotes research in the area of health and educates the human resources that will play an important role in relating its research achievements to society. In addition, it will conduct research into the establishment and industrialization of social infrastructure making use of the research findings.


Health Information Platform Laboratory

The aim of this laboratory is to collect information on the health of individuals and build a cloud system that can provide an array of services via the appropriate utilization of stored information. While patients suffering from lifestyle diseases and incipient patients are on the rise, individual health awareness is also on the rise, with numerous health maintenance and promotion equipment, and information systems available. With the incorporation of IT into medical facilities, progress is also being made in establishing infrastructure that will enable patients to utilize digitized medical records themselves in their own recovery. The aim of this laboratory is to build a framework that will provide high quality health management services where information obtained from health and medical systems is collated in one area rather than being dispersed and administered by many systems.


Laboratory on Innovative Research and Practices for Nursing

In order to ensure best practices, this laboratory aims for (1) practical research and development promoting best practice quality, (2) the nurturing of nursing leaders who can spread and utilize specific and appropriate best practices into the workplace, and (3) the exploration of ethical best practices that respect the values of all parties involved.


Laboratory of Green Infrastructure and Ecosystem Services

In this laboratory, we aim to clarify practical methods for biodiversity preservation not only from the natural scientific viewpoint, but also from the social scientific viewpoint, from the regional to global scale. We will also put greater emphasis on environmental education with the aim of bringing biodiversity to the forefront of major global issues.


Social Fabrication Laboratory

There are two kinds of distinctive facility that have been experiencing something of a global boom of late, the "Future Center" and the "Fab Lab." Future Centers are intended to be shared by citizens who play a variety of roles in society, and were started to provide locations for communication and discussion toward problem solving. On the other hand are Fab Labs, small-scale workshops offering digital fabrication devices, in which citizens in local communities can take part in fabricational activities. In this laboratory, we are aiming to create and establish new creative facilities and activity models, exclusive to Japan, through combining these different yet mutually-complementary resources.


East-West Life Science Innovation Laboratory

The aim of the East-West Life Science Innovation Laboratory is to integrate the methodologies of Japan's traditional Chinese herbal medicine (Kampo) and Western medicine and, by merging this with an IT system, effectively utilize archived health and medical information of users so as to develop a pre-sickness diagnosis support system aimed at medical services, and a self-medication support system for general users. This would then be used to demonstrate and verify the benefits of such systems.


Sports Dynamics and Informatics Laboratory

The primary objective of this laboratory will be to develop methods for measuring and analyzing sports data acquired through scientific technique and information technology (IT), as well as developing methods for accumulating and visualizing sports data. The secondary objective of this laboratory will be to disseminate the appeal of sports by providing training and coaching based on acquired scientific knowledge for, not only competitive sports, but also a wide range of sports enjoyed by all citizens including children, the elderly, and disabled persons. In order to accomplish these two objectives, this laboratory will use sports science and the SFC's unique advantages to create its own system consisting of the experts from a wide variety of disciplines.


Eco-cultural Regeneration Design Laboratory

Commissioned by domestic and overseas corporations and local governments, this laboratory will research a physical design that comprehensively regenerates the natural ecosystem and social culture within specific cities and localities. The aim is to propose implementable plans and programs. The following four guiding principles will be used within this research.


Data management creation Laboratory

This laboratory will research methods on how to integrate IT, analytics and design so as to nurture human talent able to handle such a new social system, in other words the nurturing of architects capable of handling and researching big data and data scientists that can implement information strategies within the new system.


Medical Ethics & Patient Safety Laboratory

Our laboratory aims for those involved in research, practice and public administration in a variety of fields to work together to study medical ethics and medical safety issues and suggest public policy improvements. Based on the integrated, inter-disciplinary knowledge we gain, we will suggest training topics, create educational materials, and conduct educational seminars.


Laboratory of Islamic Studies

This laboratory seeks to contribute to world peace by removing prejudices toward Islam and the Islamic world, and aims to achieve the peacebuilding and to create a harmonious society, respecting Islamic teachings. Specifically, we continue work on studies, education, and activities on the topics of Islam and the Islamic world that have been individually implemented at SFC, utilize our extensive overseas network, and publish our comprehensive research activities and results.


Social Innovation Laboratory

The Social Innovation Laboratory strives to research and develop various solutions to help improve society, such as the concept of "social innovation" and related practice models, support tools, as well as realization models for synergy between scientific and technological innovation and social innovation. Results from this research will be utilized in education programs within the "Social Innovator Course", a professional course established in Graduate School of Media and Governance.


Case Method Laboratory

This laboratory aims to be a hub for Keio University's SFC (the Faculty of Policy Management, the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care, the Graduate School of Media and Governance, and the Graduate School of Health Management) to accumulate and share know-how on case method education and case teaching materials, accelerate propagation of and promote personnel development for case method education, while cooperating with organizations such as Keio Research Center for Liberal Arts and other universities. Consideration will also be made on development methods for case teaching materials so they can be utilized in not only the faculty and graduate school classes at Keio University, including SFC, but also in the training programs of other universities, corporations, municipalities, etc.


Advanced Web Architecture Laboratory

The Advanced Web Architecture Laboratory will perform research and dissemination activities on the basic technical elements in web architecture, for example: its use in epub and correspondence towards writing from top to bottom for properly handling Japanese culture; its application to hybrid broadcasts and TV terminals that are application examples of web browser technology other than computers; promulgation of digital signage as a platform. Along with this, the Advanced Web Architecture Laboratory will promote research on new architecture through industry-university collaboration systems in order to link physical space with cyberspace represented by WoT.


Strategic Data Analysis Laboratory

This laboratory applies strategic data analysis and polimetrics techniques to policy marketing fields, etc., and conducts applied studies towards personal (politicians, etc.) and institutional (national government, political party, local government) strategic decision making, particularly in the field of public policy.


Earth System Governance Shonan Fujisawa Research Centre

This laboratory is oriented as a research base in Japan for Earth System Governance. The establishment of this laboratory is significant as an existence to constitute the international framework of future global environment research, and it is thought that this laboratory will contribute to the creation and strengthening of systems in Asia, which is an agenda for the ESG project.


Laboratory for Drone Co-creation Society

This laboratory aims to promote the research and education listed below, and will work with the Consortium for Co-Creation of Drone Collaborative Society with the objective to create a drone society through collaboration between industries, government and academia. By doing so, this consortium wishes to make SFC an international center of excellence for drone studies in Japan. 1) Resolution of social issues using drones (medical care, health, environment, disaster prevention & mitigation, public works, construction, agriculture, etc.) 2) Drone business (collaboration between industries, government and academia) 3) Drone-related system designs (deregulation, insurance systems, security) 4) Development of drone application technology 5) Drone education (establishment of lectures and practicums in postgraduate and undergraduate programs)


Yurui Communication Laboratory

"Open Innovation" creates new social systems and services by people with different abilities, positions and values engaging with one another. What type of communication advances and generates Open Innovation? In this laboratory various organizations within society, including corporations, schools, local governments and local communities, come together to conduct experimental projects and fieldwork, with faculty members and external researchers then jointly researching and exploring this whole concept of communication.


Ageless Academy Lab.

The specific activities of the laboratory include lectures, symposiums, measurement meetings, and collaborative programs with universities, institutions, communities, and companies. The laboratory also creates opportunities to present research and experiment results, etc., to share issues, information, and data.


Legal Design Lab

The objectives of this laboratory are (1) to draw blueprints of legal/social systems and HLI in leading-edge domains, as well as to develop the protocols (methodology) of legal/social system development and implementation in leading-edge domains; (2) to develop or construct systems or the infrastructure and interface of laws/contracts for the next generation using technology and design; (3) to consider law not as a simple regulation, but as a lubricant for promoting innovation, and to promote the development of human resources (legal designers) who can conduct HLI designs, and promote that mindset (legal design mindset) to society.


Shonan Keiiku Hospital Collaboration Laboratory

The objective of this Laboratory is to implement joint research with SFC (Faculty of Policy Management, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care, Graduate School of Media and Governance, and Graduate School of Health Management) and Shonan Keiiku Hospital, adjacent to SFC, in order to develop, verify and promote utilization of a system that will contribute to next-generation healthcare.


AI & Society Laboratory

It is possible to construct basic theories that conduct institutional designs based on the coexistence of technology and people as a premise, by realizing research for promoting the coevolution of society and technology by research groups integrating arts and sciences, and implementing this research will show the direction for creating future rules and institutional designs. Additionally, this consortium will act as a global base and aim to make proposals and examine systems needed to create leading-edge rules and social foundations.


Blockchain Laboratory

From the standpoint of academia, the research of applications not bounded by virtual currency is a matter of considerable urgency. To realize this endeavor, we need to pursue research on 1) verify blockchain technology's safety & stability and develop related software, 2) construct verification foundations with development in various application fields, and 3) build a research network among global academia.


Smart Future City Laboratory

It is said that tens of billions of IoT (Internet of Things) devices will exist over the course of several years. This laboratory aims to resolve the various issues present in human society with the use of these devices. We will promote the development of various technologies needed to accomplish this task, and make efforts to promote the practical use of these technologies through industry-government-academia cooperation.


Running Design Laboratory

This laboratory researches various aspects pertaining to long-distance races. Particularly in recent years, ekiden (a term in Japanese referring to a long-distance relay running race conducted on roads) within university sports, such as the Hakone Ekiden, have been gaining popularity with each year, and this has become a type of social phenomenon. While matters such as these are considered, research on the act of running will be conducted as an integrated domain of various academic aspects ranging from the desirable state and social significance of ekiden and long-distance races within university sports, to training methods and performance enhancement techniques and programs incorporating the use and application of IT as well as medical science and physiology. To promote practical research the laboratory will collaborate with the long-distance strengthening project of the Track and Field Club, Keio University Athletics Association which will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2017.


Advanced Publishing Laboratory

In order to successfully unify Japan's world-class high-quality publishing technology with EPUB, there is a need to make proposals to global standards involving researchers from diversified fields and through the web standardization organization W3C to bring together balanced investigations and debates. A new generation has begun where EPUB and the web are becoming more integrated, and it is during this time that this research will improve not only the presence and role of Japanese publication using the internet and the web, but also the degree to which Japanese publication is recognized in overseas markets so that Japan's culture is not isolated from the world. To do this, this laboratory will also conduct maintenance while aiming to standardize the web through discussions, development, and verification for promoting EPUB. Furthermore, the laboratory will aim to carry out various educational programs to train personnel who will lead future publication and to further develop entertainment assets in Japan who have a global presence in this area.


AOI Laboratory

We aim to use AOI-PARC in Shizuoka Prefecture as a hub to advance research and development in agriculture-related fields that use ICT and leading-edge technology, etc. We also aim to proceed with the examination of efficient production techniques and the breeding of highly functional agricultural products in a safe, secure, and low-cost manner that utilizes a next generation cultivation system, etc. We will also advance businesses that promote scientific verification, etc. for establishing evidence related to the functionality of ingredients derived from agricultural products for the development of highly functional foods, etc. that aim to promote health and longevity.


Public Safety Policy and Police Studies Laboratory

From the standpoint of academia, this laboratory aims to not only simply follow social safety policies implemented by the government, local public organizations, and private actors, etc., but also examine these policies and their relationships with freedom, human rights, and safety, from critical and multifaceted perspectives. This laboratory also aims to study systems that maintain social safety in our modern constitutional and democratic civil society, particularly the police organizations and authority which form the core of those systems, and give constructive proposals to policy-makers and accumulate study results in relevant fields where academic research has not necessarily been sufficient.


xSDG Laboratory

The xSDG Laboratory aims to conduct transdisciplinary research and utilize SDGs as an approach to resolve issues in diversified and complicated societies, and actively publicize results through publications, websites, etc.


Urban Nexus Lab

Industry-academia-government-private sector collaboration is essential as SUGI-NEXUS and M-NEX deal with complex linkages between urban social ecological systems and F-W-E. The SFC is a multidisciplinary campus that excels at leveraging internal and external collaboration to tackle complicated issues. Established with the SUGI-NEXUS/M-NEX project as the axis, the Urban Nexus Laboratory will comprehensively research food, water, and energy in cities, green and grey infrastructures for those purposes, and the resulting effects on health and quality of life.


The Future field Creation Laboratory

Accordingly, this laboratory will create new "Future Fields" based on the Odakyu Electric Railway and SFC's achievements until now. Furthermore, this laboratory will collaborate with the Next Generation Campus Village Creation Consortium, which studies community development based on future lifestyles created by the SFC through the use of new technologies such as IoT and AI, to demonstrate exploratory models, which are created as needed, in local communities.


Laboratory for Creating Advanced Smart Town

This laboratory will collaborate with Oimachi, Shinagawa City, Tokyo for conducting social experiments to gain practical wisdom for developing future local communities. Specifically, we will carry out empirical and practical research projects that employ approaches from multiple perspectives including the environment, architecture, urban planning, technology, and the community. Furthermore, the laboratory will present a future regional development model that fully utilizes local resources and helps enrich the well-being of people. Ultimately, we aim to establish the SFC way of "design science" that explores how things ought to be, and pave the way to a new world of regional revitalization.