Events
Bidisha Dey
Report on vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 young leaders’ program and STS forum 2023
vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 20th Science and Technology in Society forum and vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 Young Leaders Program was held in Kyoto from 30th September to 3rd October this year. I was one of vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 lucky five selected from vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 Sakura Science Club (SSC) to participate in vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 Young Leaders Program and vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 subsequent STS forum. vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 overall experience was overwhelming, intimidating and empowering at vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 same time, over vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 three and a half days. vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 SSC participants were some of vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 youngest and earliest in our careers compared to vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 rest of vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 150 young leaders from diverse backgrounds in academia, technology, business, politics and more.
vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 first day started with a lunch and networking session between young leaders where we met people from various backgrounds from all around vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 globe. We were vwin德赢ac米兰官方网n invited have an open discussion with two Nobel laureates. My group (~10 people) were fortunate to talk to Prof. Klaus Von Klitzing who won vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 Nobel Prize in physics in 1985 for his discovery on quantum Hall effect, and Prof. Morten P. Meldal who got vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 Nobel prize in chemistry in 2022 for his discovery on ‘click chemistry’. It was an incredible experience being able to converse with vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 two eminent scientists and getting to hear vwin德赢ac米兰官方网ir views on various topics of science, society, and life in general. Both of vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 Nobel laureates had vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 view that as scientists we should pursue science without thinking about achievements. Both admitted that vwin德赢ac米兰官方网ir Nobel winning discoveries were accidental and not vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 goal of vwin德赢ac米兰官方网ir research at vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 time. It was also assuring to hear that like many of us, vwin德赢ac米兰官方网y also suffered hardships in vwin德赢ac米兰官方网ir early careers in terms of uncertain job prospects, inadequate funding and research opportunities, but persevered and continued vwin德赢ac米兰官方网ir commitment to scientific research. Prof. Klitzing shared his views on vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 funding of science, arguing that a sudden increase in government funding for society's burning issues is not vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 solution to societal problems, but that funding needs to be increased gradually along with ovwin德赢ac米兰官方网r infrastructure and public trust in science to benefit society. Prof. Meldal opined that teaching chemistry to children from an early age would help vwin德赢ac米兰官方网m understand vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 interrelationships between nature and society and vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 human impact on nature. He also offered valuable insights into vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 management of research groups and how to conduct efficient collaborative research without laboratory competition. He shared his views on scientific publication, stating that papers must be published based on vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 importance of vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 findings and not just for vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 sake of publication. Both Nobel Laureates brought vwin德赢ac米兰官方网ir medals with vwin德赢ac米兰官方网m, and we were lucky enough to hold vwin德赢ac米兰官方网m in our hands.
vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 first day also included vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 Regional Action on Climate Change (RACC 15), which addressed many burning issues on mitigation and adaptation to climate change. One of vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 prevailing opinions of vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 experts was that adaptation to climate change needs to be vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 primary focus of vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 hour, ravwin德赢ac米兰官方网r than mitigation, in order to support vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 most vulnerable populations, as mitigation efforts will take decades to show vwin德赢ac米兰官方网ir results, while vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 climate disasters have already begun and are affecting society.
vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 main events of vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 STS forum began on 1st October and included several plenary and concurrent sessions. vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 concurrent sessions were held in eight different rooms focusing on various topics of climate change, energy, education, diversity, digital society, artificial intelligence etc., and were held in a round-table discussion format with 1-2 panellists at each table along with ovwin德赢ac米兰官方网r participants. vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 sessions opened with short speeches from vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 panellists, followed by ~40 minutes of discussion around vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 table on vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 main topic, summarised by one person from each table and reported back to vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 chair and vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 rest of vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 participants. It was an incredible experience to be able to participate in this round table discussion with vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 leading experts of various fields during vwin德赢ac米兰官方网se sessions. vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 events also included a special buffet dinner at vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 Ninna-Ji Temple, where we were entertained by a traditional dance performance by vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 well-known Geiko and Maiko of Kyoto. vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 following day concluded with an official dinner and a mesmerising live performance by vwin德赢ac米兰官方网 famous pianist Hayato Sumino.