A memorandum inspired by the topic about the University of Chicago

where the author studied neurobehavioral analysis

The author of this WEB site studied dopamine neurobehavioral analysis research in the department of Pharmacology & Physiological Sciences as well as in the department of Psychiatry at Pritzker School of Medicine, in the University of Chicago (Photo by the author).

As shown in the photo, ivy grows on the traditional brick school buildings. However, this university is not a member of the Ivy League, which is known as the name of a college sports association consisting of eight universities in the northeastern United States: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Princeton, and Yale.

However, the University of Chicago was ranked in the top 10 of the world-renowned higher education evaluation organization QS (Quacquarelli Symonds)'s ranking of excellent universities, along with MIT, Cambridge, Stanford, Oxford, and Harvard. By the way, in Asia, universities in China and Singapore are also gaining strength, and the author thinks that these universities will eventually make it into the top 10. In fact, in the 2024 QS rankings, the National University of Shingpole ranked 8th. In addition, The University of California, Berkley was newly ranked 10th, and as a result, The University of Chicago ranked 11th.

The above evaluation is carried out annually from multiple perspectives on the role of universities. The evaluation criteria were reputation among academics (40% of the evaluation), reputation among employers (10%), number of citations per faculty member (20%), faculty ratio per student (20%), and ratio of foreign faculty members (5%). From the 2024 edition, new indicators were introduced: Sustainability, employment outcomes, and international research networks. Because the QS ranking is based on such multifaceted criteria, the rankings of universities at any given time are not fixed, and change drastically every year. Japanese people, who love the top, are somehow very fond of Harvard University. However, this university is not the top in the QS index.

Various criteria can be helpful when choosing a university. However, the autjor thinks that extreme obsession with general university rankings is meaningless. At the stage of university admission, it is important to research the characteristics of each university and which of them matches your abilities and interests and can develop your potential. Even if you use labels to attach to yourself, it may give you momentary self-satisfaction, but it does not necessarily lead to your future development. In addition, the author believes that various value standards take on a life of their own in the virtual space and begin to lose their value the moment they are recognized, valued, and begin to have authority in society.

Let's also look at universities in Japan. It is the same everywhere that it is difficult to get into a good university. However, in a social climate that focuses on the difficulty of universities based on the entrance exam standard deviation score and continues to evaluate it rigidly and excessively, it may not be easy to raise the ranking of excellent universities from an international perspective. However, such evaluations are beginning to be reconsidered, and if they do not, they will be left behind by the world. Furthermore, progress is not seen just by investing huge amounts of national funds in universities. There is a challenge in this regard, and it is the extent to which reform of the education and research system and the resulting behavioral change in individuals can be realized. The author believes that the behavioral change in individuals here is not cultivated only through exam education, but through the pursuit and development of one's own interests and strong practical ability toward one's goal. This will depend on the inherent characteristics of individuals and the power of education that can find and bring them out. In the United States, the author has seen many researchers who, despite the criticism of others, have faith in their own research and thoroughly delve into problems. The author does not think that excellent research will come out even if we simply create an environment where we provide a good setup with abundant funds and say, ``Please do your research here as you like.'' Universities and research institutes need thorough education on how to identify important research topics, plan research, conduct research, record and store reliable data, and finally compile them into a paper. If you can learn it on your own, that's the best. However, in response to criticism that the number of Japanese researchers publishing papers in international journals is declining, it is necessary to re-recognize the importance of each of the above steps and provide education on them. Of course, universities have several roles and functions, and it is not enough to just do good research. It is also important to have a good education and to produce many useful human resources for society.

Therefore, the author thinks that a multifaceted standard is still necessary for evaluating universities. The author thinks that the trend of emphasizing the entrance exam pass score in university evaluation in Japan is also linked to the strategy of the cram school business, which is in fierce competition to attract applicants. The author feels this when the author sees many posts on YouTube and SNS that excessively incite the emphasis on academic qualifications, expressed by "academic qualification nerds" and the like. However, even before that, the author thinks that in the minds of Japanese people, a historically monolithic race surrounded by the sea, there is a tendency to fit everything into a one-dimensional value scale and not feel satisfied unless they rank things. In this case, it is forgotten that values ​​in the real world are on a multidimensional scale. In American society, people with completely different backgrounds in terms of religion, culture, and social values ​​are barely connected by the common language of English, and the author believes that the establishment of a one-dimensional value scale is not as effective as in Japan.

However, even if the entrance deviation score itself is one-dimensional, there are cases where it is the result of multifaceted abilities in several subjects and extraordinary efforts. In this case, the author thinks that a high score has great value as a potential ability. The author hopes that those who are given this ability will have a broad perspective free from authoritarianism, fully demonstrate their abilities in fields such as research, education, medicine, business, administration, and justice, and continue to make great contributions to society.

Good japanese sake (alcoholic drink) is the taste and quality of the sake itself, which is the result of a long and careful brewing process. There is no point in emphasizing and boasting forever about how high the bar is set at the material selection stage at the beginning of sake brewing, and how rare and high-quality rice is selected and used as ingredients. Of course, it goes without saying that good rice is important as a suitable material for brewing good sake. It is also important to have people who can clearly distinguish what is good sake and to have clear standards for judging it.

By the way, although the number of sake lovers overseas has increased significantly, the author thinks it is still a local existence on a global scale. In that respect, whiskey and wine are brewed with history and tradition, and there are many lovers around the world. Also, even if you don't drink alcohol, there are plenty of fun and fulfilling worlds. Here, the author just wants to say that there are various values ​​in the world, and we live in a world of values ​​on a multidimensional scale. On the other hand, it is also true that there are many worlds in this world that are far removed from such value scales, or that have nothing to do with such things in the first place.