On March 27 ~ 29, 2013, the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) of Tokyo Institute of Technology held their 1st ELSI International Symposium on the university's Ōokayama campus. The event began with a ceremony at Kuramae Hall to celebrate the launch of ELSI. Tokyo Institute of Technology's president Yoshinao Mishima opened the occasion with his greetings, followed by congratulatory speeches from many of ELSI's honorable guests. The ceremony closed with a speech by ELSI's director, Kei Hirose, in which he outlined the institute's dual mission of studying "the origin and evolution of life" and "the origin and evolution of the Earth" through the interdisciplinary collaboration between the fields of Earth, planetary and life sciences. The event was attended by 200 people.

The opening ceremony was followed by a 3-day international symposium in which topics related to ELSI's research scope were presented, debated and discussed by its Principal Investigators and invited researchers from various institutions from abroad and Japan.

For more information on the opening party and symposium, please check the following link: here

Kei Hirose, Director of ELSI

Opening ceremony at Kuramae Hall

Ōokayama campus sakura in full bloom during the Symposium

[Photos]
1.Kei Hirose, Director of ELSI
2.Opening ceremony at Kuramae Hall
3.Ōokayama campus sakura in full bloom during the Symposium

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Program for the symposium is here 1st ELSI International Symposium Program

Lecture materials can be found here ‎

In this symposium, we will discuss topics in the scope of ELSI:

• 1. Early Earth environments
• 2. Birth of life and its environmental conditions
• 3. Synthetic biology and genome evolution
• 4. Co-evolution of Earth and life
• 5. Solar system bodies
• 6. Exo-habitable planets
• 7. Life in the universe

Each session consists of several talks by ELSI PI's and people invited from other institutions in Japan and other countries.

Date

March 27(Wed.) - 29(Fri.)

Place

Kuramae Hall and Digital Multi-Purpose Hall, West 9 bldg., Tokyo Institute of Technology

Schedule

*Updated programs and further information can be found in this page"

Mar 27(Wed) 9:30-11:40

• Opening ceremony in Kuramae Hall
• After lunch, please move to Digital Multi-Purpose Hall
• 13:35-16:55
• Session 1: Early Earth environments
• Session 2: Birth of life and its environmental conditions

Mar 28(Thu) 9:00-18:00

Session 3: Synthetic biology and genome evolution
Session 4: Co-evolution of Earth and life
Session 5: Solar system bodies
Message from WPI Program Director
Reception

Mar 29(Fri) 9:00-16:20

• Session 5: Solar system bodies - continued
• Session 6: Exo-habitable planets
• Session 7: Life in the universe
• Summary
• Panel Discussion
• Concluding remarks

Speakers

• A. Goldman (Princeton)
• A. Lazcano (U. Nationla Autonoma)
• D. Kiga (ELSI)
• D. Lin (UCSC)
• E. King (UCB)
• G. Cody (Carnegie Inst.)
• G. Fournier (MIT)
• H. Genda (U. Tokyo/ELSI)
• H. Kuninaka (JAXA/ELSI)
• H. Ohta (Tokyo Tech/ELSI)
• H. Yabuta (Osaka U.)
• I. Chen (UCSB)
• J. Cleaves (ELSI)
• J. Dohm (ELSI)
• J. Hernlund (UCB/ELSI)
• J. Kirschvink (Caltech/ELSI)
• J. Makino (ELSI)
• K. Hirose (ELSI)
• K. Kobayashi (Yokohama)
• K. Kurokawa (ELSI)
• K. Soai (Tokyo Univ. of Sci)
• K. Takai (JAMSTEC/ELSI)
• K. Yasuoka (Keio)
• L. Kaltenegger (Max Planck/Harvard)
• L. Landweber (Princeton)
• M. Fujimoto (JAXA/ELSI)
• M. Hara (Tokyo Tech/ELSI)
• N. Okouchi (JAMSTEC/ELSI)
• N. Yoshida (ELSI)
• P. Driscoll (Yale)
• P. Hut (IAS/ELSI)
• S. Benner (U. Florida)
• S. Ida (ELSI)
• S. Maruyama (ELSI)
• S. Masuda (Tokyo Tech/ELSI)
• T. Guillot (Nice obs.)
• T. Irifune (Ehime U./ELSI)
• T. Sasaki (Tokyo Tech)
• T. Yomo (Osaka U.)
• W. Hordijk (SmartAnalytiX.com)
• Y. Albert (Bern U.)
• Y. Fujii (U. Tokyo/ELSI)
• Y. Hongo (Tokyo Tech/ELSI)
• Y. Maeda (Kyoto U.)
• Y. Sekine (U. Tokyo)
• Y. Ueno (ELSI)