The Second RIKEN–McGill University Scientific Workshop
20 July 2012 (Volume 7 Issue 6)
Part of the RIKEN-McGill University Scientific Workshop poster session.
The 2012 RIKEN–McGill University Scientific Workshop, the second of the series, was held in the Okochi Hall at the RIKEN Wako Campus in Saitama from 25–26 April 2012 and saw 14 visitors from McGill University—one of the top research institutes in Canada—make the journey to Japan for an intensive two-day program of academic exchange. The current meeting follows the workshop held in Montreal in September 2010 under the auspices of a comprehensive cooperative agreement concluded between RIKEN and McGill University in 2009 following a visit to the Canadian institution by RIKEN President Ryoji Noyori in the same year.
The 2012 workshop opened with welcoming remarks from RIKEN Executive Director Maki Kawai and the associate vice-principal of McGill University, Rima Rozen. Following these, the more than 50 delegates embarked upon a program of 17 lectures covering a diverse array of topics including green chemistry, materials science and nanotechnology given by leading researchers from RIKEN and their Canadian counterparts. The academic program also included a poster session on the afternoon of the first day which was attended by in excess of 60 participants who engaged in lively exchange and discussions. In response to an expressed desire on both sides for a further development of the relationship to include the life sciences, the workshop was also accompanied by visits by Rozen and senior McGill colleagues to other RIKEN campuses in Kobe and Yokohama.
