Junior Campus 2014 concluded (20-21 September 2014)

Kyoto University and the Kyoto City Board of Education co-hosted Junior Campus 2014 on 20--21 September, with the aim of providing junior high school students with opportunities to learn about cutting-edge research.

Now held for the tenth consecutive year, Junior Campus proved as popular as ever this year with around 370 junior high school students and 120 parents or guardians attending.

After the opening ceremony and orientation on the morning of 20 September, Professor Tooru Matou from the Graduate School of Agriculture gave a special lecture titled, "What Do Plants Eat?: Comparing Nutritional Requirements of Animals and Plants". Using real rice plants as examples, Professor Matou explained what kind of nutrients enable plants to grow so large and answered questions from inquisitive junior high school students and others in the audience.

On the afternoon of the first day and the whole of the second day, a total of 32 seminars were held. Some involved hands-on activities based on experimentation, practice, and observation, and others focused on reading and discussion. The seminars were organized at various research and education facilities across three campuses. Two of the seminars (Special Seminars by Early-Career Researchers) were planned and run primarily by KU graduate students. These sessions inspired junior high school students to learn more about specific topics such as “British Society and Literature” and “An Introduction to Paleontology by Looking at Dolphin's Skeletons”. There were also poster presentations given by graduate students during lunchtime, which attracted a great number of junior high students keen to hear about current, day-to-day research at Kyoto University described in accessible terms. In addition, by opening the doors to The Kyoto University Museum and Kyoto University Library, visitors had a chance to come into contact with the many and varied aspects of research at the University.