Tackling Global Challenges Together

Researchers from the University of Zurich (UZH) and Kyoto University came together for the fourth time last week to exchange ideas across a wide range of disciplines. The long-standing collaboration between the two universities was formally established as a strategic partnership in 2020.

Since then, a number of joint projects have emerged across a broad spectrum of disciplines. The symposium provided an opportunity to deepen existing projects and explore new fields for cooperation. “The partnership is built on shared academic values that we hold in common,” UZH President Michael Schaepman noted in his opening address: “Excellence, innovation and a mutual commitment to tackling global challenges.”

“Improving Quality of Life” was the overarching theme of the symposium. Over the course of three days, researchers from both universities exchanged views in the fields of regenerative medicine, environmental sciences and various aspects of artificial intelligence.

“Interdisciplinary study encompassing biology, agriculture and informatics is central to the Zurich-Kyoto cooperation,” says Kentaro Shimizu, who specializes in evolutionary plant biology. An alumnus of Kyoto University, he is now the director and professor at the Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies at UZH.

Shimizu is already collaborating with two research groups at Kyoto University. Together with his Japanese colleague Hiroshi Kudoh, he participated in a workshop on collaboration in plant science at the symposium. “Plant science is essential for both food security and the conservation of biodiversity, which are key to environmental quality,” says Shimizu.

The cooperation between the two universities combines expertise in molecular plant biology with biodiversity and systems-level research. “This enables us to advance multi-scale approaches in plant science and gain a more integrated understanding of plant function across different levels of organization,” says Shimizu, explaining the advantages of the partnership.

In addition to theoretical ecologist Jordi Bascompte and plant physiologist Cyril Zipfel, UZH computer science professor and blockchain specialist Claudio Tessone also took part in the workshop. He also has experience collaborating with Kyoto University, where he conducts joint research with Yuichi Ikeda in the field of blockchain technology.

At the workshop in Zurich, the two met with plant biologists for the first time. “The workshop revealed how blockchain technology could transform data collection, sharing, and transparency in plant science,” says Shimizu, explaining the combination, which may seem surprising at first glance. Blockchain could thus contribute to more reliable and collaborative research.

The next step in the collaboration is to facilitate mutual exchanges between early-career researchers and field data collection, explains Shimizu. The goal is to establish a joint PhD degree in the future. “This would also catalyze the longer-term development of a joint research center in biodiversity,” says Shimizu.

For computer science professor Abraham Bernstein, the symposium provided an opportunity to explore new potential collaborations with researchers from Kyoto University. The workshop on collaboration involving artificial intelligence focused on enabling researchers from the two universities to get to know one another and to identify topics in which cooperation would be worthwhile.

“One of the key contributions from Kyoto is the use of technologies in political discussions among the general population at the municipal level,” Bernstein explains. A system developed at Kyoto University is already in use in several municipalities. Research at UZH, by contrast, tends to focus more on the functioning of AI as a work partner – among other things in decision-making processes. These two approaches complement each other well, Bernstein notes.

No concrete next steps were defined during the workshop. Instead, thematic areas for potential collaborations were identified. One question that proved particularly intriguing concerned the extent to which differing cultural backgrounds influence the use of AI. “After all, AI usually reflects cultural attitudes, even if only implicitly,” Bernstein explains.

In this context, Bernstein is able to build on earlier research conducted at his chair on the cultural adaptation of human–machine interaction, in which AI-supported user interfaces were developed and tailored to users’ cultural backgrounds.

The two workshops covered only two of the five areas in which the two universities aim to step up their collaboration. Other topics included AI and religion, trust in AI, and cell research, particularly in the field of regenerative medicine.

“In times when global challenges and political tensions are on the rise, multinational and interdisciplinary collaboration become more crucial than ever,” emphasizes Michael Schaepman, who believes that the UZH–Kyoto University symposium is a cornerstone of this collaboration, fostering dialogue across disciplines and strengthening connections.