On 20 August, Kyoto University Summer School 2015 took place on the Yoshida Campus with a total 1,778 students from 95 high schools participating.
The Summer School is a university-high school collaborative event organized annually in accordance with the partnership agreements signed between the University and specific boards of education and high schools. Participants come from high schools under the jurisdictions of the education boards of Osaka, Shiga, Hyogo, Kyoto, Wakayama, Mie, Ishikawa, Tokushima, and Fukui Prefectures, Kyoto and Tokushima Cities, and Tokyo Metropolis, and from designated high schools in Nara Prefecture.
As an educational initiative, the event is focused on stimulating students' curiosity and intellectual creativity by introducing them to cutting-edge research activities. It also provides opportunities for students from different parts of the country to meet and interact, thereby promoting intellectually stimulating encounters and helping to foster personal development.
The 2015 event began with "round-table meetings", in which KU students presented on their respective faculties and departments before going on to discuss their own academic, research, extracurricular lives, part-time jobs and other off-campus activities, study-abroad and internship experiences, and study habits during high school. Their detailed presentations engaged the attendees' attention and sparked lively discussion.
Next, 23 sample classes, organized with the help of KU research institutes and centers, were given on a range of subjects spanning the social and natural sciences.
Feedback comments from the participants included: "From now on, I will try to be more diligent in the classroom so that I can get good enough grades to be able to apply for admission to Kyoto University," "I want to come back next year for a sample class on a different subject," "I was surprised to find myself becoming intrigued by a subject that I'd never really thought about," "It's been full of fresh and stimulating experiences, very different from going to high school; it has certainly broadened my horizons," and "The sample class reminded me of what makes Kyoto University attractive."
A "round-table meeting"
A sample class
