Disclaimer: machine translated by DeepL which may contain errors.
Families Experience the Wonderland of Science in Homecoming Day 2024
Kazuo Emoto (Head of Department Public Relations / Professor, Department of Biological Sciences)


(Top) Associate Professor Shimizu and (Bottom) Professor Aikawa giving lectures
The Graduate School of Science holds a lecture series titled "Family Experience: Wonderland of Science" during Homecoming Day at The University of Tokyo. The purpose of this event is to have alumni bring their children and grandchildren so that the children, who will be responsible for the future, can experience the fun of science. This year's event was again held on Saturday, October 19, 2024, in a hybrid format with on-site participation at Koshiba Hall and real-time streaming on the YouTube Faculty of Science channel.
After an opening address by Head of Department of Chemistry Shinichi Okoshi, Associate Professor Ryota Shimizu of the Department of Chemistry gave a lecture titled "The Birth and Symbiosis of Robot Chemists". He began with a talk on AI, which is closely related to this year's Nobel Prize, and showed a projection of a robot performing an experiment autonomously, which the participants listened to with great interest. Next, Professor Yuri Aikawa of the Department of Astronomy gave a lecture entitled "The Birth of Stars and Planetary Systems. The audience was very excited to hear Professor Aikawa's talk, which was followed by questions from the audience. Both lecturers continued to ask questions even after their lectures were over, and the meeting came to an end with regret from the participants.
The average number of participants was 219, and the average number of on-demand views was 466. According to the questionnaire, a wide range of participants, from elementary school students to the general public, expressed satisfaction with the lectures.
We would like to express our deepest gratitude to all participants, Lecturers, and all those who cooperated in the preparation for and on the day of the event.