JSPS Quarterly No. 12, Summer 2005

JSPS Quarterly No. 12, Summer 2005 (228 KB)


Symposium Held to Celebrate 10th Anniversary of German JSPS Club

JSPS’s Bonn Office organizes an annual symposium in cooperation with the JSPS Club (German fellows’ alumni association) for the purpose of introducing leading-edge research being advanced in both countries, while promoting mutual understanding and joint initiatives between researchers of the two countries. This year, the event was held on 22-23 April at Günnewig Hotel Bristol in Bonn.

The symposium, which celebrated the tenth anniversary of the JSPS Club, did not this time have one scientific topic as its subject. Rather, it was held on the theme "Prospects of Japanese-German Scientific Cooperation," under which presentations were given in six fields: biotechnology, physical chemistry, comparative and international education physics, legal science, and psychological science. (The speakers’ CVs and abstracts can be found on this page.)

Each topic was addressed by a pair of Japanese and German researchers who had worked together in a JSPS program. The pairs reported on the latest developments in their respective fields and on the products and prospects obtained through their collaborative work. They also offered proposals on ways to further advance Japan-German scientific cooperation.

In prelude to these presentations, remarks were offered by Mr. Akira Mizutani, Minister, Japanese Embassy in Germany; Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Hess, vice-rector, University of Bonn; Dr. Georg Schütte, secretary general, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH); and Mr. lsao Kiso, executive director, JSPS. They congratulated the JSPS Club on its ten years of successful operation and voiced their expectations in the Club’s role as a bridge for promoting German-Japanese understanding. Following them, JSPS Club chair Prof. Dr. Heinrich Menkhaus, currently a professor at Philipps-University of Marburg, gave an address entitled "The History of the German JSPS-Club.

After the symposium ended on the first day, a dinner party was held for all the participants. At it, Dr. Heinrich Pfeiffer, former secretary general, AvH, offered a toast with a wish for further development of Japan-German exchange. After the second day’s sessions, a cultural program was held along with the annual meeting of the JSPS Club. At the meeting, an annual report was presented and an active discussion held on such items of business as plans for next year’s symposium.

Attending the symposium were members of the JSPS Club, researchers from Bonn and other regions of Germany, and representatives of AvH, DFG, DAAD and other JSPS partner agecies. They listened attentively to the lecturers, who articulated the highly advanced content of their research in an easy-to-understand manner, allowing every one to engage actively in the Q&A discussions.

An excellent response was received from the participants, who praised as highly meaningful the historical perspective offered by means of the concrete cases presented of Japan-German collaborative research. Besides the participants, considerable interest was also shown by the press, who interviewed the speakers and members of the Club and asked for symposium-related materials.

JSPS Bonn Office