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2nd Kyoto University-Inamori Foundation Joint Kyoto Prize Symposium
July 11-12, 2015
On 11 and 12 July, 2015, the second Kyoto University-Inamori Foundation Joint Kyoto Prize Symposium (KUIP) was held in the University’s Clock Tower Centennial Hall with around 650 people — including students, researchers, and members of the general public — attending over the two days.
Under the umbrella theme “Technology/Genetic Science/Arts — Tracing the Path of Evolution, in Holistic Contemplation of Present and Future Civilization”, the event brought together 12 leading experts from around the world to address topics of academic and public interest through presentations that were thoughtfully crafted to make highly technical content accessible and engaging to the general audience.
The first-day session was dedicated to the theme of “State-of-the-art Electronics”, and featured lectures by five prominent scholars: Dr. Harry A. Atwater, Howard Hughes Professor of Applied Physics and Materials Science, California Institute of Technology; Professor Emeritus Hiroyuki Matsunami of Kyoto University; Professor Takahito Ono of Tohoku University; Professor Roel Baets of Ghent University and the Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (IMEC); and Dr. Kyoko Kitamura from Kyoto Institute of Technology.
The program for the second day was divided into morning and afternoon sessions. In the morning session, “Frontier Studies on Human Evolution” were explored through lectures delivered by four leading biologists: Professor Svante Pääbo of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology; Professor Eske Willerslev of the University of Copenhagen and the University of Cambridge; Professor Gen Suwa of the University Museum, the University of Tokyo; and Professor Satoshi Hirata from Kyoto University’s Wildlife Research Center.
The afternoon session was devoted to “Music in the 20th Century and the 21st Century” and featured presentations by three composers — Professor Emeritus Jo Kondo of Ochanomizu University; Professor Masahiro Miwa of the Institute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences; and Mr. Toshio Nakagawa, Vice-President of the Japan Society for Contemporary Music, Executive Director of the Japan Federation of Composers Inc., and a Lecturer at Ochanomizu University — followed by commentary by Hermann Gottschewski, Professor, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the University of Tokyo. This session also included a live musical performance. In the Closing Session, a discussion entitled, “Wrap-up and Future Directions — from the Viewpoint of the Symposium Theme” was chaired by Kyoto University President Juichi Yamagiwa. Responding to the President’s comments and questions regarding the entire event, a multidisciplinary panel — comprising KUIP presenters and Kyoto University faculty members involved in organizing the event — discussed humanity’s long-term prospects in the context of the ideas presented over the last two days.
Feedback comments from the audience included: “I wish I had known about this symposium last year; the live performance in the Music Session was just fantastic,” “I am grateful to the speakers for making highly technical topics accessible to people like me”, “It was very exciting to listen to the exchange between President Yamagiwa and the presenters in the Biological Sciences Session,” “I want to thank the organizers for putting together such a wonderful event.”
Day 1July 11(Sat.), 2015
Opening Ceremony
“Technology / Genetic Science / Arts
– Tracing the Path of Evolution, in Holistic Contemplation of Present and Future Civilization -”
Advanced Technology“Electronics”
“State-of-the-art Electronics”
●Speakers
- Harry A. Atwater
(Howard Hughes Professor of Applied Physics and Materials Science, California Institute of Technology) - “Photonic Design for High Efficiency Photovoltaics”
- Hiroyuki Matsunami
(Professor Emeritus, Kyoto University) - “Power Semiconductor Devices – Key for Effective Use of Electric Energy -”
- Takahito Ono
(Professor, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University) - “Integrated microsystems based on small machines for detection and sensing”
- Roel Baets
(Professor, Ghent University / imec(Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre)) - “Photonic integrated circuits – enablers for the Internet and for the life sciences -”
- Kyoko Kitamura
(Full-time Lecturer, Institute for the Promotion of University Strategy, Global Excellence, Kyoto Institute of Technology) - “Creation of peculiar beams by photonic-crystal lasers”
Day 2July 12(Sun.), 2015
Basic Sciences“Biological Sciences”
“The frontier studies on human evolution”
●Speakers
- Svante Pääbo
(Professor, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology) - “Ancient DNA – from humble beginnings to high-quality genomes -”
- Eske Willerslev
(Professor, Director, University of Copenhagen / University of Cambridge) - “How we settled the world and developed cultural and biological diversity”
- Gen Suwa
(Professor, The University Museum, The University of Tokyo) - “Honing in on human and African ape origins – hypothesis building and testing with the fossil record -”
- Satoshi Hirata
(Professor, Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University) - “Understanding social intelligence in chimpanzees and bonobos – A quest for the evolutionary origins of the human mind -”
Arts and Philosophy“Music”
“Music in the 20th century, and the 21st century”
●Speakers
- Jo Kondo
(Professor Emeritus, Ochanomizu University / Composer) - “Dissolution of Autonomous Artwork in Contemporary Music, or Externalization of Musical Language”
- Masahiro Miwa
(Professor, IAMAS (Institute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences) / Composer) - “New Religious Music – The Potential of the Arts in Electricity Civilization -”
- Toshio Nakagawa
(Vice –President, Japan Society for Contemporary Music / Executive Director, The Japan Federation of Composers Inc. / Lecturer, Ochanomizu University / Composer / Pianist) - “The Forest of 20th Century Music: Travelling through It with the Piano (covering music of Kyoto Prize winning composers)”
Closing Session
“Wrap-up and future directions
– from the viewpoint of the symposium theme -”
●Speakers
