Other activities of the Center
Joint meetings
The Center will organize joint symposia in Japan or in Germany on relevant topics in the context of inflammation and its associated diseases. All members of the two organizations, senior and junior researchers, will be expected to actively participate. In addition, the attendance of graduate and undergraduate students will also be encouraged. Depending on the selected topic, participation of some ad-hock members, specialized in the selected topic, may also be considered. The topics, depending on the development of the Center, are subject to change. The Center will take the responsibility of appointing organizers for each symposium who will cooperate in the implementation of scientific programs and other arrangements.
In addition, depending on the development of cooperative activities, the Center will coordinate small workshops, wherein a specific topic, such as a special technology or specific cell function, will be discussed by a small number of participants with the emphasis of inviting young researchers and graduate students. Depending on the topic chosen, the Center may consider inviting scientists from other institutions. Finally, the Center may also become a liaison organization within Asia, by inviting to these meetings scientists in these fields from Korea, China, Singapore and other counties.
Exchange of scientists
The Center will establish programs to coordinate the mutual exchange of principal investigators (participants of the Center), and research scholars, who will conduct short- (days or weeks) or long-term (months or years) research at the Center in order to stimulate and facilitate the active collaboration among the participating laboratories. Although the details are still under consideration, the UT will consider assigning appropriate titles, such as ‘Visiting Professor’ or ‘UT Research Fellow’, for the participants from the Max-Planck Institutes visiting Tokyo. Likewise, the UT fellows visiting MPS will be awarded a title, such as ‘Visiting Professor’ or ‘Max Planck Research Fellow’. The Center will primarily take the responsibility of making travel and accommodation arrangements for the visitors. The establishment of the Center in the UT campus is beneficial to both institutions, but particularly to the MPS in terms of strengthening international cooperation. This is because the Center may eventually attract many research scholars, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows from abroad, even beyond those directly involved with the Center, in biology, medicine, engineering, and other related fields.
Ph. D. student training programs
The Center will coordinate training programs for Ph.D. students, with the specific aim of introducing the multidisciplinary research field of integrative inflammology. Ph.D. students from MPS and UT will be invited to spend an extended period of time (e.g., 6 months) in the laboratories of the reciprocal host institution. The Center will also organize student lectures by sending and inviting investigators from within or, if necessary, outside of the center, so as to expose and inspire Ph.D. students in this field of research. In addition, the Center will offer German and Japanese students the opportunity to perform their thesis in one the research groups of the reciprocal institution.
Max Planck Junior Fellow(s)
The Center will support several (two or more) Max Planck Junior Fellows, who will hold a non-tenure track position. Recipient(s) of this Junior Research fellowship will include exceptionally talented early-career researchers, at the postdoctoral or Assistant Professor levels. The fellow may join one of the labs of the Center, but will work largely independently with his/her own research budget. The term of the appointment is for 5 years. Fellows will spend their time mainly at the UT, but they will be encouraged and supported to spend a part at one of the participating Max Planck Institutes, so as to intensify the mutual cooperation of the two organizations. A joint selection committee will select the fellow(s).
Facilities for constant, mutual communications within the center
The Center will continuously strive to encourage the mutual exchange of ideas, new data and methodology by creating relevant platforms. We will organize video or telephone conferences to discuss any relevant issues arising for the effective operation of the center. We will also arrange the website so that the participants and their colleagues can freely exchange research information or ideas with others at any time, as a means to intensify mutual integrity and to facilitate integrative research conducted in each group.
