On 26 December, the Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS) hosted the fifth joint symposium of the research institutes supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) under the World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI).
WPI seeks to build "globally visible" research centers -- ones that maintain an excellent research standard and offer an outstanding environment to frontline scientists from around the world.
The symposium has been held annually since 2011 by the nine WPI-supported institutes, and is aimed at introducing high school students and other members of the public to the fascination of cutting-edge science.
The 2015 event, titled "The Science You Can Feel", took place in the Clock Tower Centennial Hall with over 400 attendees.
Mr Hejcik Pavel, a science communicator at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan), Tokyo, made the opening remarks.
Three lectures were presented: "Is Cholesterol Really Bad?" by Assistant Professor Koh Nagata of iCeMS, "Computers to Fight 'Viruses'" by Assistant Professor Kazuo Yamashita of Osaka University Immunology Frontier Research Center (IFReC), and "In Search of the One Piece: Across the Oceans and the Universe" by Principal Investigator Ken Takai of the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI), Tokyo Institute of Technology.
KU President Juichi Yamagiwa delivered a special lecture on field-based research on gorillas.
The speakers then took part in a panel discussion with Ms Aya Ota, bestselling author of Todai Gokakusei no Note ha Doshite Utsukushii noka ? ("Why are the notes taken by successful applicants to the University of Tokyo so beautiful?"), on the topic of "researchers' notetaking". The panelists showed their own notebooks to each other as they explored the subject.
Toward the end of the event, iCeMS Director Susumu Kitagawa's closing remarks were followed by the KU glee club's surprise performance, which brought the 2015 WPI symposium to a cheerful close.
In the meantime, the research exhibition held upstairs as part of the event also attracted an enormous crowd, many of whom were seen looking through the microscopes and flipping through the lab notebooks on display as well as listening to presentations by the participating scientists.
President Yamagiwa delivering his lecture
iCeMS Director Kitagawa addressing the audience
Panel discussion in progress
Another scene from the panel discussion
KU glee club performing on stage
Science exhibition
