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The 10th Presidents’ Conference of HeKKSaGOn, the German-Japanese University Alliance, took place on 30 and 31 October 2025 at the University of Osaka.
The theme of the conference was ‘Transdisciplinary Initiatives and Alliance Building for Global Futures’, and presentations the six university presidents gave presentations on the diverse transdisciplinary initiatives their respective institutions. As one example, Kyoto University referred to the 1st Kyoto Conference which was held in September 2025. This international conference brought together philosophers, scientists, engineers, business leaders, artists, and religious figures from around the globe to discuss “values and underlying principles” in the era defined by artificial intelligence (AI).
In parallel with the presidents’ conference, individual meetings for the six research projects funded by HeKKSaGOn were held. Concurrently, 15 students selected from the six Japanese and German universities discussed the topic “Designing Transdisciplinary Futures: Creating, Applying, and Enabling New Fields” in a student workshop. Progress and outcomes were reported during the plenary session on the second day.
At the closing ceremony, the presidents of the six universities signed a Joint Statement, reaffirming HeKKSaGOn’s future direction: promoting sustained joint research, supporting the next generation of researchers, advancing responsible science, and strengthening collaboration with society.
The upcoming 11th HeKKSaGOn Presidents’ Conference is scheduled to be held at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in 2027.
