5th interdisciplinary idea competition concludes (27 October 2017)

Researchers may at times hit upon an extremely intriguing or fascinating idea (one that President Juichi Yamagiwa would describe as omoroi ) that at the same time seems beyond what can be properly addressed in an academic paper or presentation.

Kyoto University's Gakusai Kenkyu Chakuso Contest ("interdisciplinary research idea competition") offers researchers a chance to share and discuss such ideas with peers from diverse disciplines. Participants present their thoughts as a single A3-sized diagram, demonstrating the depth of their explorations.

In this fifth competition, held on 27 October 2017, ten teams selected based on submissions delivered three-minute oral presentations, and discussed their ideas in a poster session. One team was selected for the top honor, the Kanae Prize, earning one million yen in research funding.

Winning topics

• Evolution and upper-air viruses: What can happen on the "Cosmic Shore"?
• From "written history" to "experiential history"
• "Massaging a herd": Developing a "tactile logic" approach to relax our society
• Derivations of "when a human begins to disintegrate"
• Student perspectives on a foundation for a discussion on higher education

Judges

From Kyoto University

• Juichi Yamagiwa, President
• Kota Asano, Professor, Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies
• Yoshiko Takahashi, Professor, Graduate School of Science
• Shoko Suzuki, Professor, Graduate School of Education
• Yasuko Takezawa, Professor, Institute for Research in Humanities
• Yoshimasa Nakamura, Director, Center for the Promotion of Interdisciplinary Education and Research (C-PIER) / Professor, Graduate School of Informatics

From outside the University

• Norio Wada, Executive Advisor, NTT
• Hiroshi Fujiwara, Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer, BroadBand Tower, Inc
• Hideki Sasaki, President, Nihon Bunkyou Shuppan Co, Ltd
• Yoshiaki Nishimura, Representative Director and Chairman of the Board, Sumitomo Riko Company Limited

Related link

• YouTube video on the 2017 idea competition, introducing the concept, event program, and selected diagrams (in Japanese)
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9apMAEtzFHU&feature=youtu.be