OIST executives and researchers travelled to Tokyo on 3 July to present the current state of the university to the Japanese mainland media.
OIST executives and researchers travelled to Tokyo on 3 July to present the current state of the university to the Japanese mainland media. The press briefing was held in the Cabinet Office Building and was attended by 19 leading science and current affairs journalists. OIST President Jonathan Dorfan explained that the challenge laid down to OIST to create an international and interdisciplinary science and technology graduate university in Okinawa had been answered. OIST had succeeded in recruiting world-class management, faculty, and students and was now ready to start its first academic year in September. He stressed the stimulating effect that these people who have now settled with their families will have on Okinawan society and its economy.
OIST Board of Governors members Dr. Kiyoshi Kurokawa and Dr. Hiroko Sho underlined the very rapid progress that had been made in establishing OIST as a top level science university. Prof. Noriyuki Satoh, Prof. Dennis Konstantinov, Prof. Yoko Yazaki-Sugiyama, and Prof. Jeff Wickens talked about their respective research, highlighting the new dimensions that had been added by interactions with specialists in other fields at OIST.
The event, also attended by Vice President for Communication & PR Neil Calder, Vice President for Administrative Compliance Maki Kubo, Vice Provost for Research Kenji Doya, and Associate Vice President for Communication & PR Youhei Morita, ended with a series of questions from the press and individual interviews.
