News

On Saturday, June 21, as part of the career support initiatives for doctoral students under the JST “Support for Pioneering Research Initiated by the Next Generation(SPRING)” program, the Keio-SPRING Career Forum was held at the Raiosha Symposium Space and Event Terrace on Hiyoshi Campus.

Wakuo Saito, CEO of Kinsuisho Sake Brewery, gave an opening lecture in the Symposium Space. His lecture, entitled “Integrating Research and Business: Market Creation through Collaboration in Industry, Academia, and Government,” drew upon on his experience of balancing earning his doctorate from Keio University while also running a sake brewery.

Next, a panel discussion was held in which Saito was joined by Teruo Nakashima, Dean of the Graduate School of Economics, and two students selected for the Keio-SPRING project to discuss how graduate students can apply their education to their career. The personal stories of each speaker led to an interesting discussion about careers in fields other than academia, as well as a variety of questions posed by students in the audience, resulting in a stimulating panel for those who participated both in person and online.

In the company pitch session that followed, students listened intently as each of the 14 participating companies gave an introduction with emphasis on career paths for doctoral students.

While this was happening, company representatives spoke with students at booths set up on the Event Terrace. This allowed students to walk around the booths and learn more about all 14 companies.

In total, the event saw more than 100 doctoral, master’s and undergraduate students participate from Keio University, each of whom was given an opportunity to explore the possibilities of their careers after completing a doctoral program.

■Keio-SPRING Project (Japanese)

https://doctoral-support.keio.ac.jp/spring/