News

On Friday, March 7, the Keio Colloquium 2025 was held as part of the JST "Support for Pioneering Research Initiated by the Next Generation" program (Keio-SPRING). The event brought together doctoral students from across various fields of expertise for cross-disciplinary exchange, with 130 people attending in person at the West School Building Hall and classrooms on Mita Campus, and a further 90 joining remotely.

The opening keynote speech was delivered by Dr. Asami Miketa, who obtained her doctorate from Keio University and has extensive experience working in various institutions around the world, including her current position at the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). In her lecture, Dr. Miketa shared her experiences in both her career and research as a doctoral graduate who works outside of academia. The audience listened attentively, gleaning deep insights on their future career and research.

Following the keynote speech, the morning session was rounded out with breakout sessions on four themes — AI and Society, Social Wellness, Sustainability, and Global Economy and Open Innovation — leading to lively discussions. In the afternoon, a student-organized session gave final-year doctoral students a platform to deliver presentations on their research, followed by questions and feedback on those presentations. Participants moved freely around the venue to listen to lectures and ask questions, and the participants were encouraged to provide notes on what they learned and their impressions of the session on sticky notes as feedback. Then, in the co-creation session that followed, a representative for each of the four themes presented their learnings from the discussions during the breakout sessions.

The event ended on a high note with the representatives presenting their thoughts and impressions, in English. The colloquium is the largest event at Keio University for doctoral students and it provided them with a good opportunity for future cross-disciplinary research and exchange.

JST "Support for Pioneering Research Initiated by the Next Generation" program (Keio-SPRING)

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