About

What is the CHAIN?

  • Hokkaido University established a new research and education center, CHAIN, in July 2019.
  • It is a hub for interdisciplinary research and education at the intersection of humanities, Artificial Intelligence, and Neuroscience.
  • The inaugural ceremony was held on July 23, 2019.
  • The first international symposium will take place on November 9-10, 2019.
  • The graduate-level education program will start in April 2020.

Purpose of the CHAIN

The Center for Human Nature, Artificial Intelligence, and Neuroscience (CHAIN) is a research and education center for the interdisciplinary study of the humanities, social sciences, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence. At the intersection of these disciplines, we would like to open up new directions in understanding “what human beings are.” In particular, we intend to integrate highly philosophical ideas with mathematical and empirical scientific methods and scientific findings through an intimate collaboration between specialists from diverse disciplines. In April 2020, we will launch a new graduate interdisciplinary program.

Position open: Specially Appointed Assistant Professor or Lecturer

Center for Human Nature, Artificial Intelligence, and Neuroscience (CHAIN), Hokkaido University, in Hokkaido, Japan invites applications for a 3.5-year research and teaching position with an anticipated start date of September 1st, 2020. The successful applicant will be appointed as a faculty member at the rank of Specially Appointed Assistant Professor or Lecturer in CHAIN. Details are described in the document below.

[Position open]download

Position open: Postdoctoral Fellow

Center for Human Nature, Artificial Intelligence, and Neuroscience (CHAIN), Hokkaido University, in Hokkaido, Japan invites applications for two 3.5-year post-doc positions with an anticipated start date of September 1st, 2020. Successful applicants will be appointed as a Postdoctoral Fellow in CHAIN. Details are described in the document below.

[Position open]download

Program

From April 2020, the CHAIN will start a new graduate-level education program integrating humanities and sciences. Master and Ph. D students majoring humanities, social sciences, neuroscience, and computer science in graduate schools at Hokkaido University can participate in the program provided by the CHAIN. Participants will engage in interdisciplinary joint research on one (or more) of the four main topics – the self, consciousness, sociality, and rationality. Courseworks for acquiring basic and advanced skills and knowledge in related topics will also be provided.

The program consists of three modules.

  1. Program-based learning module
    Participants will take the coursework for acquiring knowledge and skills that are not provided in a graduate school they originally belong to.
  2. Platform learning module
    It is the core module for the entire program. All the participants are required to attend both the summer and the winter schools every year where international scholars actively working on the front lines of interdisciplinary research are invited. Participants can broaden their knowledge of cutting-edge interdisciplinary research on the four major themes, and entering into the international research network by interacting with guest lecturers.
  3. Practical-learning module
    Participants are required to engage in international or domestic research internships for pursuing occasions for new interdisciplinary research collaborations. Business internships at collaborating IT or AI-related companies will also be available for testing what they learned in the program in practice. It is promoted to use the summer and winter schools as an opportunity for finding suitable places for the internships.

Those who get through the program with credit are entitled to receive a diploma.

CHAIN Program Schedule

  • Beginning of April 2020 – Orientation (will be held multiple times)
  • End of April 2020 – Student Application Period (20 spots will be made available for 1st Year Master’s Students. Additionally, a small number of spots will be open to 2nd Year Master’s Students and 1st Year Doctoral Students. [Selections will be held in the event that the number of applicants exceeds the number of open positions])
  • June 2020 [Summer Term] – CHAIN Program Start
  • August 24~28, 2020 [Scheduled] – CHAIN Summer School 2020
  • Beginning of January 2021 [Scheduled] – CHAIN Winter School 2020

Expectations for Participating Students

  • Must be enrolled as a regular student in a Graduate School at Hokkaido University.
  • Must be interested in research being conducted at the meeting point between the human and social sciences, neuroscience, and Artificial Intelligence (e.g., Machine Learning) and be willing to actively learn basic knowledge concerning all of these fields.
  • English skills are required.
  • It is preferable that students major in one of the following research fields : Human and Social Sciences, Neuroscience, or Information Science and Technology.

News & Events

【Finished】Announcement of Inaugural Ceremony

Center for Human Nature, Artificial Intelligence, and Neuroscience will hold an inaugural ceremony for celebrating the opening the center on July 23, 2019, at Sapporo Campus of Hokkaido University. We’ll explain the background, purposes and planned activities of the CHAIN. Three invited plenary speakers who are concerned with the CHAIN give a lecture on the latest interdisciplinary research conducted at the crossroads of humanities and sciences.

[see further details]

CHAIN Program Schedule

  • Beginning of April 2020 – Orientation (will be held multiple times)
  • End of April 2020 – Student Application Period (20 spots will be made available for 1st Year Master’s Students. Additionally, a small number of spots will be open to 2nd Year Master’s Students and 1st Year Doctoral Students. [Selections will be held in the event that the number of applicants exceeds the number of open positions])
  • June 2020 [Summer Term] – CHAIN Program Start
  • August 24~28, 2020 [Scheduled] – CHAIN Summer School 2020
  • Beginning of January 2021 [Scheduled] – CHAIN Winter School 2020

[About Our Educational Program]

CHAIN ACADEMIC SEMINAR SERIES

【Canceled】
#10
Dr. Sungshin Kim
Neural mechanisms of supervised versus reinforcement motor learning

#9
Dr. Masatoshi Yoshida
エナクティブな意識の理論をめざして

＃8
Dr. Manuel Baltieri ＆ Dr. Aurelio Cortese 講演会

#7
Dr. Enrico Bonadio
The AI Revolution and Its Impact on Intellectual Property Laws

#6
Dr. Koji Yoshida
What can Philosophy do in Business?– Looking at a Current Example of, and Future Prospects for, Philosophical Consulting –

#5
Yusaku Okubo
Statistics and Philosophy seen from Biology side – towards Philosophy for Statistics and Statistics for Philosophy-

＃4
Workshop: Structures of Consciousness

＃3
Transmitting Experience/Sharing Experience

#2
池上高志（Takashi Ikegami）氏
Offloaded Agency：エージェンシーはインストールされる
ダビデ・マロッコ（Davide Marocco）氏
Embodied Cognition and Sensorimotor Coordination in Human Development: A perspective on Autism Research

#1
Dr. Olaf Witkowski (CrossResearch Institute)
From Origins of Life to Open-Ended ASI: How Collective Intelligence Emerges from Many Minds

Contact

Center for Human Nature, Artificial Intelligence, and Neuroscience (CHAIN)

Kita 12, Nishi 7, Kita-ku, Sapporo
Hokkaido, 060-0812, JAPAN

Tel.　+81 11-706-4049
Email. office [at] chain.hokudai.ac.jp