The 2nd Joint Symposium which was organized by Tohoku University MD, and our program was held on March 17 and 18, 2016. The main venue was the Frontier Research in Applied Sciences Building at the Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University. The two programs share the common aspect of having adopted in 2013 with the combined fields model (Materials) of the Leading Program for Doctorate Degree Course, and we have been holding joint symposia since 2014. On March 17, the event featured a keynote speech by Professor Toshiyuki Nakagaki (Institute for Electronic Science, Hokkaido University)—a two-time winner of the Ig Nobel Prize for his original research on slime molds—along with reports given by students. On March 18, there was a special lecture by Ms. Akiko Harigaya, a staff member at the Chiba City Museum of Science. Workshops were held on both days. I participated in running a workshop as a student project. In the workshop, students from both programs collaborated, holding discussions with a view to creating new initiatives. Mixed groups from both schools examined the issues thoroughly, and they all came up with wonderful final proposals, convincing me that we had achieved our aim of deepening the interactions and relationships between us.

Reporter: Takuro Suzuki (First-term Student)