Dr Kazuo Inamori will be speaking to an invited audience on the topic 'From a Society of Greed to a Society of Altruism'. The talk will be livestreamed in both English and Japanese. This will be available on the Blavatnik School of Government YouTube channel and also on the homepage of this website.

Biography

Kazuo Inamori was born in Kagoshima, Japan in 1932.

If the greatest enemies of humankind in the 20th century were infectious diseases, cancer has clearly become the major foe in the 21st century. Acquired immunity holds the keys to overcoming both of these difficult medical challenges. Dr Honjo presents the fortuitous developments that he has experienced during his time as a researcher, leading to the discovery that PD-1 inhibition could be effective in treating cancer. This new breakthrough immunotherapy is being hailed as a 'penicillin moment' in cancer treatment.

Age is the only category of discrimination that includes all humans. However, ageing people are stigmatised in popular culture and discourse, and regarded with a disgust closely linked to fear. Dr Nussbaum argues that stigma against the ageing is a social problem, producing unhappiness and injustice such as discrimination in employment and social interactions, not to mention what she calls a ‘huge social evil’ – that of compulsory retirement.

For Dr Kanade, good research derives from solving real-world problems and delivering useful results to society. As a roboticist, he participated in developing a wide range of computer-vision systems and autonomous robots, including human-face recognition, autonomously-driven cars, computer-assisted surgical robots, robot helicopters, biological live cell tracking through a microscope, and EyeVision, a system used for sports broadcast. Dr Kanade will share insights into his projects and discuss how his “Think like an amateur, do as an expert” maxim interacts with problems and people.

Public Lecture by Dr Graham Farquhar, Kyoto Prize 2017 Laureate for Basic Sciences

With his work spanning physics, applied mathematics and plant physiology, Dr Farquhar’s remarkable work on models of photosynthesis has helped understand and mitigate the effects of climate change on plants, including developing drought-resistant strains of wheat. In his lecture he will share insights from his work as a scientist as well as the contributions he has made to policy as a scientific advisor during key climate change negotiations.

Public Lecture by Dr Richard Taruskin, 2017 Laureate for Arts and Philosophy, and a performance by the Villiers Quartet and Jeremy Young, piano

In this lecture combined with music, Dr Taruskin will focus on Shostakovich’s popular Piano Quintet – supported by the University of Oxford’s quartet in residence. Musicologist, critic, historian and author of landmark study “The Oxford History of Western Music”, Dr Taruskin has transformed contemporary perspectives on the performance and the study of music through his convention-defying historical research and essays.

Professor Ching Tang’s pioneering work led to the practical use of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and their widespread application in displays and lighting – from smartphones to TVs. He arrived at this achievement through studying light emission processes in electrically driven organic materials and invented a new device structure in which two carefully selected materials were stacked, allowing for high-efficiency light emission at low drive voltages.

Professor James Gunn conceived and led the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which produced a three-dimensional digital cosmic map encompassing a broad region – a ‘map of the universe’. He contributed to the elucidation of the evolutionary history of the universe and has also published many pioneering astrophysical theories. Through these achievements, he has provided us with a significant understanding of the universe. Professor Gunn is the current Kyoto Prize Laureate for Basic Sciences.

Ariane Mnouchkine, the founder and director of the Théâtre du Soleil, has been continuously producing masterpieces with historical and political themes over many decades. Referring to traditional performances of both the East and the West, she is a theatre pioneer whose unique theatrical organisation eschews hierarchical order. Ariane is the current Kyoto Prize Laureate for Arts and Philosophy.