Yoshihito Osada

Yoshihito Osada (Japanese) obtained his Bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Waseda University, Japan, in 1966, and received his Ph.D. in polymer science from Moscow State University in 1971 under supervision of Academician Prof. V.A. Kabanov. He held the position of Professor at Ibaraki University, Japan, from 1973 to 1991. In 1992, he was invited as a professor from the Department of Polymer Science, Hokkaido University (Sapporo), later served as a Dean of Graduate School of Science, then as the Vice President of Hokkaido University till 2007. He was invited from RIKEN in 2007 and served as a Deputy Director of RIKEN Advanced Science Institute till 2011. Since 2011, he serves as a Group Director and a Unit Leader of Molecular and System Life Science Unit. His main research interest is soft and wet matter (gels). He developed chemomechanical systems (artificial muscles) using polymer gels as early as 1975. Systematic study on frictional behaviors of polymer gel has been making through 1995. He also has developed Double Network Gels which exhibit excellent mechanical performances as strong as those of soft tissue of living organism. Currently his interests focus to highly hierarchical protein gels with “emergence” functions such as motility, self-repairing, self-oscillating functions.