On Friday, March 8, Keio Colloquium 2024, as part of the JST Doctoral Program Student Research Support Project (Keio-SPRING), was held online and in-person, in a hybrid format at the West School Building Hall and classrooms on Mita Campus.
On the day of the event, approximately 140 participants attended in person while about 80 participants joined the event online, for a total of about 220 participants. Doctoral students from across various fields of expertise gathered for a cross-disciplinary exchange.
The opening keynote speech was delivered by Dr. Lena Okajima, CEO and founder of ALE Co., Ltd. She has experience in establishing a company and serving as its board member during her time as a university student. In her lecture, Dr. Okajima shared her career and research experiences from the perspective of a doctoral graduate who is active in fields other than academia. The audience listened attentively, gleaning deep insights on their future career and research.
After that, the morning session was followed by breakout sessions on four themes — Health and Wellbeing Society, Cultural Diversity and Inclusive Society, Human-Machine Symbiosis, and Sustainable Society — leading to lively discussions. In the afternoon, students organized a two-part Student Session in which final-year doctoral students delivered presentations on their research during the first part, followed by questions and feedback on those presentations in the second part. Participants moved freely around the venue to listen to lectures and ask questions, while jotting down their learning points and thoughts on imitation vellum paper in real time. Afterwards, these reflections were shared with the whole group in the subsequent co-creation session.
The event ended on a high note at the closing session with representatives presenting the contents of each session, as well as their thoughts and impressions, in English.
The colloquium is the largest event within Keio University for doctoral students and it provided them with a good opportunity for future cross-disciplinary research and exchange.
JST Doctoral Program Student Research Support Project (Keio-SPRING)