On Thursday, November 9, the UTokyo-KI LINK Kickoff Symposium was held at Ichijo Hall on the Yayoi Campus of the University of Tokyo, with a total of 184 participants, including faculty, staff, and students from the University of Tokyo (UTokyo), Karolinska Institutet (KI), and external participants.

The symposium marked the official launch of the UTokyo-KI Link for Innovative Networks and Knowledge (UTokyo-KI LINK) program between the UTokyo and KI.

The first part of the symposium begun with an opening speech by Teruo Fujii, President of the UTokyo followed by presentations and lively discussions with11 leading researchers from both institutions in the field of life sciences.

In the second part, firstly Nobuhito Saito, Vice President of the UTokyo gave his opening speech. Secondly, Dr. Camilla Björkegren and Dr. Katsuhiko Shirahige introduced the UTokyo-KI LINK program and Dr. Kristian Jeppsson shared his experiences from working at both university in the program. Thirdly, Dr. Matti Nikkola introduced the graduate school system at KI. In addition, Dr. Camilla Björkegren also delivered a public lecture on the history of the Nobel Prize, because of the Nobel Assembly being located at KI, responsible for selecting Nobel Laureates in Physiology or Medicine. Finally, Mr. Lennart Stenberg, representative of VINNOVA, a Swedish government agency, talked about the opportunities and challenges of international collaboration between Japan and Sweden.

The UTokyo and the Institute for Quantitative Biosciences will continue to strengthen its collaboration with KI through the UTokyo-KI LINK program in order to develop activities that create new “knowledge,” “people,” and “places” as stated in the UTokyo Compass.

Photo by JINGU Ooki