The 2nd Kyoto University-Universität Hamburg Symposium (9-11 October 2018)

On 9–11 October 2018, the 2nd Kyoto University-Universität Hamburg Symposium was held at Kyoto with over 100 researchers in attendance, including a group of observers from National Taiwan University.

Kyoto University and Universität Hamburg have been actively engaged in research collaboration in social sciences, humanities, and natural sciences since their first joint symposium in June 2017. The second symposium was aimed at further developing the collaboration and laying the groundwork for projects in additional fields, and comprised of seven sessions, each focusing on a separate academic field. Three of the sessions — law, sociology, and management — were continued from the first symposium, while the remaining four — digital transformation in logistics, ecological research, development studies, and climate — were new additions.

A dinner reception to mark the opening of the symposium was held on 9 October. Kyoto University’s president, Dr Juichi Yamagiwa, welcomed the participants, and Dr Werner Köhler, consul general of the Federal Republic of Germany for Osaka-Kobe, attended as a distinguished guest. The reception provided the participants with an opportunity to relax and get to know each other before the symposium on the following day.

The next day (10 October), the symposium opened with a plenary session, which included addresses by President Yamagiwa and President Dieter Lenzen of Universität Hamburg, and a speech by Consul General Köhler. The seven parallel sessions were then held, which consisted of research presentations and discussions.

In the closing plenary session on 11 October, representatives from each of the seven parallel session groups presented their outcomes and collaboration plans. These were followed by an overview of funding schemes for Japanese-German cooperation projects, presented by Ms Dorothea Mahnke, director of the Tokyo Office of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), and by Mr Noriyoshi Masuko, governing director of the Headquarters for International Affairs of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Sciences (JSPS). The symposium was then brought to a close with speeches by Dr Jan Louis, Universität Hamburg's vice-president for research, and Dr Kayo Inaba, Kyoto University's executive vice-president for gender equality, international affairs, and public relations.

Related link

• The 2nd Kyoto University-Universität Hamburg Symposium 2018
  http://www.oc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/symposium/kyoto-hamburg-symposium2018/en/