On December 9, 2014, the BASF Rising Star PhD Award Ceremony and the 2014 BASF-University of Tokyo Innovation Lecture were held, with volunteer third year doctoral students from this department as chairpersons. The events were made possible through the support of BASF Shanghai, which has approved our department’s educational objective of fostering students who will become successful leaders in academic and industrial fields.

Participants included faculty from our department, graduate students, third and fourth year undergraduate students, and BASF staff, totalling more than 200. The event was a great success and was held in lecture room #213, the largest lecture room in the School of Engineering.

The BASF Rising Star PhD Award aims to encourage first and second year doctoral students with global mindsets, who are highly motivated in their research activities. The selection process was conducted entirely in English with BASF staff from Shanghai, who examined written applications, conducted preliminary and final interviews with the department faculty. Out of a total of twenty-one applicants, two candidates were chosen to receive the award. At the award ceremony, the award recipients were presented with a special 3D printed trophy from BASF Shanghai. Following the trophy presentation, the recipients gave acceptance speeches. The award recipients were invited to the BASF International Summer Course, which was held in Germany in the summer of 2015.

At the 2014 BASF-University of Tokyo Innovation Lecture, Associate Professor William Dichtel, from Cornell University in the USA, gave an introductory lecture on the invention of self-organizing two-dimensional and three-dimensional polymer network materials. BASF Shanghai Vice President Dr. Charoensirisomboon and Senior Manager Dr. Garnier presented an introduction to BASF Shanghai, and shared their initiatives for BASF innovation and the expected roles of doctoral personnel in Asia. With graduate students and doctoral researchers as the focus, the lively question and answer session extended well past the allotted time.

After the lectures, more than 100 participants (including undergraduate students, lecturers, award winners, and faculty) attended the informal social gathering held at Capo Pellicano, an Italian restaurant on the 13th floor of the medical college educational research building. Faculty and students all came together to enjoy the atmosphere.

In the Americas and Europe, many events such as this, including commendations for students supporting business enterprises, are held at top universities, but they are still rare in Japan. With this perspective, we eagerly anticipate making this event a regular occurrence.