Kickoff Symposium 2023

The Kickoff Symposium will bring together world-renowned scientists, young researchers, and distinguished local and national government officials to celebrate the formal opening of the International Institute for Sustainability with Knotted Chiral Meta Matter (SKCM2).  The Symposium will consist of scientific sessions related to knotted chiral meta matter and panel discussions related to internationalization and sustainability to help SKCM2 meet its missions.  The Symposium will be held on March 20-22, 2023, in Hiroshima, Japan. Participants will stay in the Knot Hiroshima Hotel, and the sessions will be held at the nearby Hiroshima International Conference Center.

Dates: March 20 to 22, 2023 (Monday to Wednesday)

Place: Hiroshima International Conference Center, Conference Room Dahlia 

Lodging: The Knot Hiroshima

Post-conference program: Sightseeing and Outreach event at Miyajima

Google map for conference events

Program

Panel Descriptions

Panel Discussion 1 (1 hour, afternoon): Interlinking Top International Scientists to the Hiroshima WPI 

With the help of a moderator, this panel will discuss the challenges and opportunities that arise with creating an environment to host top-notch researchers and young scientists from around the world so that the SKCM2 can effectively function as a global hub for sustainability-focused fundamental research. The distinguished panel members will briefly introduce themselves and then will have an opportunity to provide opinions on what local and national governments and businesses can do to assist the Hiroshima University WPI in successfully accomplishing its missions. Examples of discussion topics include (1) the possibility of partnerships between Hiroshima University, local Industry like Micron, local and national governments and other stakeholders in addressing the needs of long- and short-term visitors from abroad; (2) English-language schooling for children of international scholars, (3) Improving the connectivity of the Hiroshima University campus with Hiroshima downtown and other parts of Japan/World. 

Panel Discussion 2 (1 hour, morning): Global Science for a Sustainable Future & G7 

This panel will operate similarly to Panel 1 described above, but its focus will be on discussing how we can possibly take advantage of the G7 event in Hiroshima in May 2023 to make the case for Political Leaders of the World to support the research that also benefits sustainability, like the fundamental research pursued by the SKCM2 members.    

Invited speakers and panel members

Louis H. Kauffman, U of Illinois at Chicago, USA

M. Cristina Marchetti, UCSB, USA

Mark Bowick, UCSB, USA

Mark Dennis, U Birmingham, UK

Renzo Ricca, U Milano-Bicocca, Italy

Paul Sutcliffe, Durham U, UK

Gareth P. Alexander, U of Warwick, UK

Qiwen Zhan, U of Shanghai for Science and Technology, China

Kenichiro Itami, Nagoya U, Japan

Naoto Nagaosa, RIKEN, Japan

Miha Ravnik, U of Ljubljana, Slovenia

Slobodan Žumer, U Ljubljana, Slovenia

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