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| Prof. Aizawa, Japanese representative |
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| Prof. Olle , Swedish representative |
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| In session |
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| Poster session |
programThe Sweden-Japan Workshop on Bionanotechnology was held from November 9, to November 11, 2003 at Kyoto Kokusai Hotel. This workshop was organized by the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF) and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). As the 1st workshop held in Sigtuna, Sweden in 2002, Prof. Masuo Aizawa, the president of Tokyo Institute of Technology and Prof. Olle Inganas from Linkoping University, Sweden chaired the workshop as a representative of each country. The objective of the workshop is to stimulate the collaboration and information exchange between two countries on Bionanotechnology, especially on the converging fields of biotechnology, information technology, and nanotechnology.
Prof. Aizawa addressed the Japanese nanotechnology policy and the challenges of ministries and agencies at his keynote lecture. Furthermore, the Bionanotechnology researches in MEXT supported projects, “Virtual Laboratory in Nanotechnology Areas” (Nano Virtual Lab) and the “Leading Project” were introduced. In the discussion, he described that the bioanalysis, biosensor, medical device, and drug delivery system (DDS) and detection are the main target of the researches.
The total of 28 speeches (14 from each country) were presented in the 5 research fields categorized in (1)Nanoscience and Nanotechnology for Biotechnology, (2)Biomedical Application, (3)Nanobioelectronics and Computing, (4)Biominetics, (5)Proteomics and Detection. Most Japanese speakers presented their recent results on biomedical application-related research, while majority of the speech presented by Swedish speakers were on proteomics- related research, which are highly expected as the “post genome” research. The speeches successfully led serious discussions between speakers and audiences.
The young Japanese researchers (mostly in 30s) introduced their recent works in the poster session and had a great opportunity to discuss their research face to face with Swedish scientists. Some of them could set up research collaboration with Swedish institutes.
In the closing session, Japanese young scientists who attended the poster session gave comments on the workshop, their future research, and expectation for research collaborations between Sweden and Japan. Swedish members, mean while, gave advices on the importance of language and cultural exchange.
The Swedish members visited universities and other institutes on 12th and 13th to discuss the latest research activities for research collaborations.
