The BSI Summer 2003 Program
We report with pleasure the successful conclusion of the 2003 BSI Summer Program. The Program consists of an internship course and a lecture course with participants from universities, colleges and research institutes all over the world. This year we received 45 participants from 14 countries.
The participants in the internship course conducted research for about two months in laboratories at BSI. Throughout this period, the participants were very active and busy acquiring technical skills and conducting experiments. At the end of the Program, they each presented the results of the research that they conducted during their stay at the BSI before an audience.
The lecture course was held for two weeks starting July 30. Many distinguished lecturers were invited to speak in this Program from Japan and abroad. The theme this year was "Nurturing the Brain" and included a broad range of lecture topics. This field of research is comparatively new and BSI is engaging in it at a world-class level. The specialties of the lecturers and participants were diverse, ranging from biology to psychology, and each state-of-the-art lecture was followed by a lively question-and-answer session and heated discussion. The poster sessions presented by the participants and visiting laboratories were a good forum for exchanging research results with BSI staff members.
Many Summer Program lecturers and participants have gone on to work here at the BSI and the network of participants in the Program is expanding worldwide. Through this program, we wish to provide researchers at BSI and researchers in Japan and abroad with opportunities to interactively exchange ideas and to collaborate. We also would like to contribute to the progress of brain science throughout the world by training researchers who will develop this field, and by further progress at the BSI.
Preparations for the summer program for next year are now under way. The theme will be "Learning and Memory: Systems, Theories, and Memories." The lecturers, general outline, and guidelines for participants will soon appear on the BSI website (http://www.brain.riken.jp/).
Dr. Ryoji NOYORI was inaugurated as the new president of the Independent Administrative Institution, The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research.
"The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research" which was inaugurated as a public corporation in October, 1958(Showa 33), relaunched as "The Independent Administrative Institution, The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research" on October 1. Dr. Ryoji NOYORI(2001 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry)was inaugurated as the new president, and expressed his hope "to establish an environment that will develop the RIKEN spirit which promotes unique and creative scientific research, as well as industrial technology, based on scientific knowledge through cooperation with all parties. On October 16(Thursday), Dr. NOYORI visited BSI and listened to presentations given by each researcher with great interest.
A Memorial Service for Laboratory Animals
On Monday, October 20, the Fourteenth Annual Memorial Service for Laboratory Animals was held in front of the Animal Memorial beside the BSI West Building. Researchers from the Brain Science Institute and the other institutes at the RIKEN Wako Campus surrounded the memorial to pray for the spirits of the animals sacrificed for research in accordance with the Principles of Animal Experimentation.
The 2003 Institute of Physical and Chemical Research Lecture
On October 30, the annual Institute of Physical and Chemical Research lecture meeting was held at Tokyo International Forum(Yurakucho, Tokyo). The theme this time was brain science research and was attended by an audience of over 1200 people. The meeting began with an address by Ryoji NOYORI, President of the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research, followed by lectures given by three representatives of BSI. The first lecture was delivered by Dr. TONEGAWA, Director of RIKEN-MIT Brain Science Research Center, who spoke on the topic "Mechanisms of Learning and Memory". Dr. Tonegawa presented his own latest research on mechanisms of learning and memory, as studied with knockout mouse. This was followed by a lecture by Dr. ITO, Special Advisor, on the theme, "Is the Design Drawing of the Brain Readable? The dream of Brain Science." This lecture centered on the endless challenges made by brain science to discover the meaning of the design drawing of the neuronal networks created by the great number and variety of interconnecting neurons throughout the brain. The last lecture, titled "Brain Science in the 21st Century" was given by Dr. AMARI, Director of BSI. Dr. Amari spoke about how brain science has developed into an interdisciplinary science uniting biological, information, and human science, and how this has led to our understanding of the brain and of human beings. This was followed by, an enthusiastic question-and-answer session, which highlighted the keen interest in brain science held by the audience.
