Graduate student support program in the field of AI in Sweden, WASP (Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program) and Graduate School of Advanced Mathematical Sciences held a joint workshop, WASP-Meiji university joint Workshop at Research Seminar Room 3 and a presence space in Nakano Campus on October 7, 2024.
This workshop was held with the aim of expanding the network of researchers by having graduate students and others who research AI and related fields present their cutting-edge research results through poster sessions and exchange opinions about their dissertations.
WASP is a leading research institute for AI technology and machine learning that provides wide-ranging support for doctoral students in Sweden, transcending the boundaries of universities. Last year, they visited Canada, and this year they visited Japan, visiting Meiji University’s Nakano Campus, Tsukuba University, and companies that research and develop AI technologies.
The workshop was attended by more than 80 people, including 34 graduate students from seven major Swedish universities, 19 graduate students from the Graduate School of Advanced Mathematical Sciences, 27 researchers from MIMS (Meiji Institute for Advanced Study of Mathematical Sciences), researchers from other universities and research institutes, and other supervising faculty members.
At the beginning of the workshop, ARAKAWA Kaoru, Dean of the Graduate School of Advanced Mathematical Sciences, gave a welcome speech, stating that the purpose of the workshop was in line with the Graduate School’s aim of creating and developing mathematical sciences that contribute to society, and expressing her hopes that it would lead to new research results.
This was followed by a special lecture “Manga, anime, games and the city of Tokyo” by Associate Professor MORIKAWA Kaichiro of the School of Global Japanese Studies. To begin with, he noted that the Ochanomizu area, where Meiji University Surugadai campus is located, is the setting for several animations, and this piqued the interest of the audience. He then moved on to discuss the social issues facing Japan, such as the declining birthrate, and posed questions to the young researchers who will build the society of the future. Many researchers studying computer science are also familiar with Japanese animation, and this became a common topic of conversation during coffee breaks and so on.
Poster session
The poster session was held in two parts, in the morning and afternoon, with a lunch break in between, with 61 participants giving presentations. There was a lively question and answer session among researchers, and the poster session was full of enthusiasm.
The research themes most frequently discussed were cutting-edge AI technologies such as large-scale language models, joint learning, adversarial generative networks, and explainable AI (XAI), and there were many heated discussions. On the other hand, there were also many presentations on fundamental theory, such as mathematical models of natural phenomena and the basic principles of quantum computers, while it was common to see researchers from inside and outside the field giving lectures to each other.
Furthermore, there was always a large audience for presentations on applied research, such as automated driving technology using AI technology, distributed robot control, technology for detecting parts from medical data, abnormal value detection technology for gas turbine generators, and technology for anonymizing facial images.
There were some working graduate students among the participants from WASP who are conducting research directly linked to industry while working for world-famous domestic automobile manufacturers and semiconductor companies. This workshop was a good opportunity for the participants to learn about global research needs.
Finally, the workshop came to a close with a critique by the faculty members in charge from WASP and Meiji University. Vicenç Torra, Professor at Umeå University in Sweden and program director of WASP, said, “Many cutting-edge research cases were presented, and there were benefits for both the participating researchers,” and expressed his gratitude to the Meiji University for providing a comfortable forum for discussion.
Professor Vicenç Torra of Umeå University providing comment