A joint symposium was held by our program and Japan Association of Communication for Science and Technology (JACST) on April 28, 2015. More than 140 guests attended the symposium at the Main Lecture Hall of the Hokkaido University Conference Hall on this day. Starting from the uproar surrounding STAP we heard candid talks from journalists, public relation specialists, and researchers regarding issues such as how research results should be delivered to the wider society, how researchers and public relation personnel can work together more effectively, and the dilemmas in reporting research results.

Photo:Ms. Etsuko Nagayama explaining the inner workings of news industry ~ The Mainichi Newspapers

Besides the main hosts the ALP and the JACST, this symposium was jointly hosted by the Japanese Association of Science and Technology Journalists (JASTJ), the Communication in Science & Technology, the Education & Research Program (CoSTEP) at our university, and the Japanese Association for Science Communication (JASC). The cooperation by wide range of participants enabled us to look at issues from multi-faceted perspectives. From reviewing the basic ethics of science and technology to latest practical cases in the field, as well as understanding challenges in the background, both teaching staff and students participating in our program benefited greatly with such a fruitful symposium.

Photo:Mr. Shigeyuki Koide, Chair of the Japanese Association of Science and Technology Journalists, acting as a facilitator during a general discussion