December 3, 2013(Tue) 2:00pm-4:00pm ＠National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies(GRIPS)
The 56th GIST Seminar “Dual-use research of concern (DURC): revolution, innovation, risks, and challenges of cutting-edge biology ”
For details http://www3.grips.ac.jp/~gist/en/events/gist056.html
My Gmail has been hacked. Please do not replay, just ignore it.
I am OK in Tokyo.
Thank you.
"Investments in Health: The Key to Economic Development in Africa"
Friday, May 31, 2013, 15:00?18:00 (followed by reception)
Maple Room, 2nd floor, South Wing, Hotel Okura, Tokyo(2-10-4 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo)
Capacity: 150 / simultaneous interpretation / free of charge
To register, please visit
http://www.jcie.or.jp/africa_gh/0531symposium/index_e.html
I would like to wish all my readers a Happy New Year, although we are already deep into the new year, but please bear with me.
Parliamentary power lies with the Abe administration for a second time. Many committees have been newly set up, and each Government Ministry is surely running at full steam, oblivious to the New Year’s holidays in order to come up with supplementary and revised budgets.
As for myself, I too have kept myself somewhat busy.
I have added here a link to my ‘New Year’s Conversation’ with Chief Representative of the Komeito, Mr. Yamaguchi. This conversation was carried on the New Year’s issue of the Komei Newspaper, and although short, I think it is familiar to those who have been visiting my blog after the ‘Fukushima Commission’.
I would also like to invite my readers to participate in two events.
1) First is an event organized by AGOS in Shibuya, Tokyo on the 14th of January that starts at 2p.m where I have been invited to talk. AGOS is a company that supports students who want to study abroad. I will try my best to adopt a discussion approach, so feel free to drop by!
AGOS is an organization supporting studies abroad and is headed by Mr. Yokoyama, who is an alumni of UCLA. Having studied there as an undergraduate, he went on to become the head manager for the college basketball team, a post made famous by the legend John Wooden. His post was a first for any Asian, let alone any Japanese person. Apart from his activities at AGOS, he is also a generous supporter of the H-LAB program, which as you may know makes frequent appearances on this blog.
2) On the 29th of January, starting from 7pm, this time held in Marunouchi, Tokyo, we will begin a series of seminars in the run-up to the TICAD 5 event that will be held in June at Yokohama. The first of the series is ‘Keys to Economic Growth in Africa: Global Health’, and the panel is moderated by Ken Shibusawa of JCIE , with two panelists Mr Sato of Africa Business Partner (in Japanese) and me from the Health and Global Policy Institute(HGPI). I would like to call upon those who are interested in African Development, and even those who are just curious, to take part. Incidentally, I myself have been to Nairobi (1,2) recently, in October.
Today in the morning, the HGPI held a special breakfast meeting to listen to Mr. Jay Singh’s talk. It will be heartening to see the cooperation of Japanese companies and ODA of USA in the near future.
Turns out to have been a busy start to the year.
MIT Media Lab @Tokyo 2013 will be held in January of next year.
Won’t you come and join this “workshop for creating the future”?
Last year, many people participated in this inspiring gathering.
Year 2013, it will again offer an inspiring program and will be a gathering of incredible people who are the ‘nail that sticks out.’
Please visit this website for more information.
There is a conference hosted by students at the University of St. Gallen in the beautiful town of St. Gallen in Switzerland.
It is an excellent symposium in which many of the top people in the political and business world come together. I have attended the conference for some years (1, 2) (Japanese link only).
Next year, it will be held in the beginning of May. In previous years, it used to invite only undergraduate university students but starting from three years ago, it decided to focus on inviting graduate students, post-docs and young leaders under the age of thirty.
Won’t you please join? Regarding the application procedure and requirements, please see the St. Gallen Symposium website (1).
It is a wonderful opportunity and I also plan to attend next year.
See you in St. Gallen!
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the largest science organization in the world, comprised of scientists members from all over the United States and the world. They have a wide range of programs and projects, but one of their most well-known is the weekly scientific journal,“Science”. The editor in chief is Dr. Bruce Alberts (1) who was the President of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for twelve years.
The AAAS also gives out a number of awards.
The other day, there was a telephone call from the office informing me that I would be one of the awardees and I would be receiving the “Scientific Freedom and Responsibility” award. It was truly unexpected.
The reason that I will be honored with the award is explained on the official AAAS website. Dr. Richard Meserve (1) and Dr. Sunil Chacko (1) have both given their comments, for which I am grateful and happy.
Dr. Sunil Chacko also wrote an article about the award in the Huffington Post.
It is also on the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) website.
Each year the award ceremony is held at the AAAS annual meeting, and this year it will be held in Boston in February. Somehow, there has been a continuation of many fortuitous events.
This was possible because of everyone in Japan and abroad who worked at the National Diet of Japan Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC) and who supported us. Thank you.
I have introduced several times on OIST in this blog posting site. OIST is now open for graduate students for 2013. Read the attached brochure, visit its website, think of applying, contact the office, think of visiting OIST. OIST is completely different from any other graduate university of Japan, beginning of your global career, it is already a leading Graduate University of Global World.
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Call for applications: PhD Program
The deadline for applicants living in Japan is December 31, 2012.
The deadline for international applicants is November 15, 2012.*
*The earlier international deadline is to allow time for visa processing.
The Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) Graduate University is now accepting applications for admission to the PhD program for the September 2013 intake. We are looking across the globe for students who will flourish in an atmosphere of encouragement for discovery and innovation. With over half of OIST students and faculty coming from outside Japan, OIST offers the highest level of graduate education while embedded in a truly international environment. About 50 cutting-edge laboratories conducting research in a range of fields form the hub of the OIST Graduate University. Based on a firm foundation in the basic sciences, we promote education that is highly interdisciplinary. The graduate program features interactive teaching with tutorial-style courses providing preparation for thesis research. Course design is customised to the unique needs of individual students. From the beginning, students work side by side with world-class faculty and researchers in well-equipped laboratories.
We are currently selecting our next class of graduate students and we would like the opportunities for PhD study at OIST to be as widely known as possible. Our intake is limited to about 20 students per year, and we aim to recruit excellent students. All students receive an internationally competitive support package, health insurance, and subsidized on-campus housing.
More information about the program and how to apply on-line is available at:
http://www.oist.jp/graduate-school
Students who are interested in applying but have difficulty meeting the deadline should contact us for assistance at:
study@oist.jp
Jeff Wickens
Dean, OIST Graduate School
We have submitted our NAIIC report to the Chairpersons of both houses of Diet, and also uploaded it on our website simultaneously.
However, because of its huge volume, I have a feeling that having the content read and understood by broad population would be quite difficult, if not unrealistic.
But now, I have a good news for you.
NAIIC report will be published as a book (in Japanese) from Tokuma Shoten.
The book will be sold at many bookstores from September 11th, a year and a half from the Accident. They are also available on-line from Amazon, etc. The price is 1680 yen including tax. Reference documents including commission meeting reports are attached as CD-Rom.
I urge and ask you to read this report by all means – the contents based on what has actually happened, and think about what you can do to support our “7 Recommendations to Legislators” which we offered as the outcomes of our investigations.
This is our another step forward.
I have reported several times on this web site that I support “AIESEC” , an organization working to promote university students’ internships at overseas.
When I participated in the AIESEC convention of last year, I was very much moved to hear the stories of Japanese university students who went to internships at India, Brazil, Philippine, and other countries, to overcome many obstacles and unexpected troubles. This event of last year was postponed from the originally scheduled date due to the wake of the 3.11 disaster. One of the speakers, a Chinese student, talked about her wonderful experience at a company in Sendai, a quake stricken area . Her internship, she said, became a trigger for that particular company to consider expansion to China, and that she is now helping them make plans for the move.
The AIESEC convention of this year (in Japanese) which took place this March was held at GRIPS, where I work. More than 100 students and many supporters gathered again, and I was happy to be a part of them. The program included a very energetic encouraging speech by Mr. Kan Suzuki, former vice minister of MEXT as well as the presentations by the seven students who were selected from the participants of this year’s internships, describing their confusion, hardships, and sense of accomplishments which moved the audience very much. After the speech was the announcement of the recipients of the “Global Internship of the Year” awards.
Then, we listened to the stories of the students who arranged the internship in Japan, trying to match foreign students with the Japanese companies, the difficulties they had to overcome, the growth and awakening which resulted from those experiences. All the students in the venue, as well as the judges, representatives from the supporting companies, shared together this wonderful half day. Awards were also presented to the students who worked to link the supporting enterprises with the potential interns, to express appreciation to the enterprises.
Next weekend, I went to an event which was held in part to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the AIESEC Asia-Pacific Chapter, spending a marvelous time with 250 or so young people from all parts of Asia Pacific. In the closing speech of the second day, I commented that a true asset for them in the future, when they become the leaders of this rapidly changing, un-foreseeable world, is, for example, such experience as spending time together for a week in this camp.
I can tell you, Japanese youths are working to pave their ways, just like the youths in other nations. I am truly proud of them and am looking forward to see the outcomes in the future.