On 13 November 2017, Kyoto University hosted student presentations on projects selected for funding under the 2017-2018 SPEC program. The venue was the KUNEP lecture hall in the Education Promotion and Student Support Department's main building.
In SPEC, standing for Student Projects for Enhancing Creativity, project ideas selected through a competition are crowdfunded for implementation, with a specific target amount set for each. Key selection criteria are creativity, originality, and uniqueness.
The meeting opened with remarks from Dr Shinsuke Kawazoe, executive vice-president for student affairs and library services, speaking as the selection committee chair. Two participants in the previous SPEC program then shared updates on their projects, detailing their achievements, such as experimental results, and plans for the future.
These were followed by a short lecture by Mr Takahisa Kusuura, president of TechnoProducer Corporation and head instructor at Hatsumei Juku ("invention school"). In his talk, Mr Kusuura, a KU alumnus with a master's degree from the Graduate School of Engineering, discussed how working to accomplish something can not only help one gain valuable skills, but attract fortuitous encounters and occurrences. He concluded by urging the students in attendance to "make the most of the academic freedom available here at Kyoto, have many discussions with friends, and keep trying."
Finally, representatives of the five 2017-2018 SPEC projects shared their plans and ambitions, one saying, "This is what makes our initiative so original," and another, "We are aiming to become world champions." President Juichi Yamagiwa commented on each presentation, and offered words of encouragement to all students: "Your endeavors will be judged not by academia but by wider society with its diverse values. That is something you do not experience very often. I hope you will all enjoy your chance to explore together with your teammates, on topics no one knows about."
The meeting concluded with Dr Yoshihiro Tokuga, vice-president for university fund administration and alumni, appealing for continued support for the SPEC program.
Updates on the ongoing projects will be posted on the Kyoto University Fund (KUF) website (link below).
From left: EVP Kawazoe, KU President Yamagiwa, TechnoProducer President Kusuura, and VP Tokuga
Naho Fujita (left) and Yuma Tsukasa of the Faculty of Science discussing their "Mysterious Sounds of Auroras" project
From left: Tong You (Faculty of Agriculture), Yuta Michimori (Faculty of Engineering), Akiko Fukuda, and Sayaka Soda (Faculty of Science), who are taking part in the 2018 International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition
Shogo Toyama (Faculty of Medicine), representative of the Kyoto University Student Committee for Medical Education (KS-CoM)
From left: Nami Yamamoto (doctoral program, Graduate School of Agriculture), Ikko Ohta (master's program, Graduate School of Informatics), Ryuhei Ueda (doctoral program, Graduate School of Letters), and Gen Nakao (doctoral program, Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies), the last two of whom are 2016-2017 SPEC participants
SPEC participants with President Yamagiwa, EVP Kawazoe, and VP Tokuga
Related links
- KUF SPEC special site
Student comments, presentation videos, and a link to the SPEC Facebook page (in Japanese)
http://www.kikin.kyoto-u.ac.jp/spec/2017 - KUF SPEC support project
Information on special donation opportunities (in Japanese, available through 31 January)
http://www.kikin.kyoto-u.ac.jp/spec/2017/campaign2017.html
