“Socio-Technological Imaginaries x Science x Ethics (socio-technological imagination, science, and ethics) Workshop” is an event series that aims to discuss how science and technology will shape our future. In the first session held on October 28, 2022, which was coordinated by Associate Professor Mayumi Fukunaga, Professor Shoji Kawamura and Lecturer Satori Hachisuka discussed the topic of “diversity” from the perspectives of “biology evolution” and “learning.” In the second session held on December 14, 2022, Professor Kozoh Ito and Professor Akiko Okabe discussed the decomposition and recycling of materials in the “Neo-cycle” era based on the theme of “circulation.” Visit the above link to access the video and the graphic records of the event.

The event was held on Sunday, Oct. 23, 2022, organized by the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, the Institute for Solid State Physics, and the Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institutes to encourage female junior high and high school students to choose science courses at the university. In the joint morning session, a GSFS alumna now working at AGC Inc., Ms. Takako Noritomi, was invited as a speaker. In the afternoon, an open forum was held by the GSFS, and current students and professors answered questions from the audience.

Participant Feedback:
“The atmosphere was relaxing because there were not too many participants.”
“Their answers were honest and detailed.”
“It was good to know about their jobs and situations after studying science.”

Throughout 6 sessions, a total of over 1,100 people participated in our GSFS Year-Round Symposium Series, which started in March 2022. These discussions on various symposium themes promote our school, which develops transdisciplinary approaches, as well as further its goal to pioneer new academic fields.

Participant Feedback:
“Much learning about cutting-edge research and technologies!”
“Both lectures and discussions had full of suggestions.”
“The symposium motivated me to think about sustainability.”

The participants were tasked with a protector for an egg and drop it from the second floor of the building, which is roughly 4 m high. The ranking is decided by the total points of the three categories: egg, target, and weight. Respectively, these are the degree of damage of the egg, the distance between the landed egg and the target, and the weight of the protector.

Five teams participated in the contest and started to make protectors after brainstorming with their teammates. They were limited to using only paper and tape. Participants also have the chance to rehearse with a trial protector, allowing them to improve on its design by changing its form or making it stronger in order to obtain higher points.

After the contest, four out of the five teams had their eggs landed unbroken; participants enjoyed observing other teams’ protectors. The Souiki-kai members expressed interest in organizing fun events again in which students from different schools can participate.(Original Japanese text by Yoko Takada)