Holding of the JST Support for Next-Generation Researchers "Keio Colloquium"

2022/04/15

Image: Scene from the panel session

The JST (Japan Science and Technology Agency) Support for Next-Generation Researchers Program aims to develop transdisciplinary human resources who possess not only specialized knowledge but also interest and understanding in a wide range of fields, and to help them acquire the qualities and adaptability of global citizens, targeting students in Doctoral Programs.

One of the features of this program is the "Keio Colloquium," an international conference for designing the future. The vision of the Keio Colloquium is to address social issues through cutting-edge research and creativity across borders and disciplines, and to envision society 20 years from now. An executive committee centered on students has been established, primarily targeting students in Doctoral Programs participating in this program.

The commemorative first Keio Colloquium was held on March 6, 2022. Initially, preparations were underway for a hybrid format at the Mita Campus and online, but due to being in the midst of the sixth wave of COVID-19, it was held online only. This Keio Colloquium consisted of four sessions: Inspirational Talks (keynote speeches), a panel session, research presentations by doctoral students, and Co-Creation, where participating students deepened discussions on social issues across disciplines. As it was an international conference, all sessions were held in English.

During the preparation stage of the conference, there was significant interest among the students on the executive committee regarding career paths after obtaining a doctorate. This reflects the fact that in Japan, compared to Western countries, the value of a doctorate is underestimated by industry and society. Therefore, the conference began with an Inspirational Talk by Dr. Hiroaki Kitano (President and CEO of Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc.), who is active at the forefront of research and is both a corporate executive and an entrepreneur. In this lecture, Dr. Kitano introduced examples of his work, including efforts to address global issues centered on sustainability and the Moonshot Challenge, which can be achieved by setting grand goals and persevering. The importance of balancing being a researcher and an entrepreneur who opens up new fields to contribute to society was conveyed as an impactful message to the students.

The panel session, themed on the state of post-pandemic society, featured futurist Paul Saffo, who teaches at Stanford University in the U.S., Associate Professor Okita from Teachers College, Columbia University in the U.S., and President Ichiya Nakamura of the Professional University of Information and Management for Innovation as panelists. Discussions were held on digital transformation (DX) and sustainability, new ways of working in an era where robots and AI handle many tasks, and educational reform for the coming new society. A particularly memorable point was the proposal that the construction of a new global civilization is strongly required for humanity to respond to current social distortions and conflicts, as well as pandemics that may occur in the future.

In the session called Research Fast Forward, which introduces the research of doctoral students, 1-minute presentations were given by 31 D3 (third-year doctoral) and D4 students, consolidated into five categories: "Energy and Sustainability," "Health," "Arts, Culture, and Education," "Lifestyle," and "Society." It was a session where one could feel that students from various graduate schools are conducting research toward the same major social contributions.

In the Co-Creation session, the highlight of this Keio Colloquium, participating students engaged in active discussions while linking social issues to their own research. The social issues addressed were nine themes: energy issues, environmental issues and climate change, food and water shortage issues, discrimination and inequality issues such as gender, educational issues, demographics and social welfare, social and bioethics, infectious diseases, and space issues.

This session was conducted on a platform called Gather.Town, aiming to create encounters with students belonging to different graduate schools and to generate future research collaborations. This session was very effective in promoting student exchange between graduate schools, and communication between students has continued even after the Keio Colloquium.

From next year onwards, we hope to gradually expand the scale by opening participation to those outside the Juku.