A) EPFL - ETHZ - TIT Joint Symposium 2011 in Lausanne– Chemistry, Bioscience & Biomaterials for Bio-Eco and Bio-Med Technology –

In June 2011, three of the world top institutes of technology - Tokyo Institute of Technology, EPFL and ETH Zurich - gathered at EPFL to strengthen their long standing academic ties and foster the exchange of PhD students. The symposium, organized by three professors from those institutes together with EPFL’s International Relations and ETH Zurich’s International Institutional Affairs teams, brought together more than 50 participants from all three institutions for excellent scientific talks and a poster session in chemistry, bioscience and biomaterials.

Various scientific subjects were presented during the symposium, and the audience, including interested walk-in students and scientists from EPFL, actively participated in the discussions. The students also had opportunities to present their home institutions from their own point of view, thereby encouraging other students to participate in exchange programs between Switzerland and Japan.

Vivid scientific discussions and networking also took place during the social program. The positive feedback from the participants showed that this scientific symposium succeeded in promoting inter-institutional as well as inter-personal exchanges. The success of this event also motivated the participants to think about a repetition of the symposium including additional partner institutions and scientists from other areas of research.

B) SNU – KAIST – ETHZ - EPFL Joint Symposium 2012 in Seoul– Engineering for Biomedical Applications –

In April 2012, two top institutes, EPFL and ETH Zurich in Switzerland and two top universities in South Korea - SNU (Seoul National University), KAIST (Korea Academy Institute of Science and Technology) will hold a joint symposium on the SNU campus to strengthen their long standing academic ties and foster the exchange and scientific cooperation. KAIST has long term relationship with EPFL and relations between SNU and EPFL are developing well. The symposium is organized by the four International Relations offices. Five outstanding professors from each institute in the field of biomedical applications will talk and bring their students for a poster session. The Swiss Embassy in Seoul will

invite all participants for a welcoming dinner on April 16th. Prof. Millan and his colleague will present at the Lift event, which has been organized by the Swiss government (http://liftconference.com/swiss-korea-12 ).