◆An international kickoff symposium was held for the "Research Exchange Hub for Warm-Period Climate Change Research Centered on the International Marine Science Drilling School," led by Kochi University
Release Date:
The kickoff international symposium for the “Research Exchange Hub for Warm-Period Climate Change Research Centered on the International Marine Science Drilling School,” organized by Kochi University—which was selected for the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science’s Research Hub Formation Program—was held from Wednesday, October 22 to Friday, October 24, 2025.
This project is led by the International Marine Core Research Center at Kochi University, which stores and analyzes marine cores from around the world. It aims to establish a "Hub for Research Exchange on Climate Change During Warm Periods" in collaboration with research institutions in Japan and four European countries to promote joint research. Approximately 80 people (including online participants) attended the kickoff symposium.
On the first day, an oral session was held at the Kochi Castle History Museum Hall. Following opening remarks by President Uchida on behalf of the organizers, presentations were given on the latest research findings from the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP³). On the second day, the venue moved to the International Marine Core Research Institute at Kochi University, where presentations were given and a tour of the core repository was conducted. On the final day, a geological field trip was held at the Muroto Geopark.
Fifteen researchers from Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, Austria, France, Spain, South Korea, and New Zealand attended the event in person. The gathering facilitated international exchange on the causes of climate change—such as global warming—as well as on understanding the actual state of climate change during warm periods in Earth’s history and mapping those change processes, marking a significant first step in the initiative to establish a research hub.
Going forward, as exchanges between young researchers in European countries and their Japanese counterparts become more active, it is expected that the young researchers participating in these exchanges will take the lead in the next phase of international collaborative research and contribute to joint proposals for new deep-sea drilling projects.
