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Past events
Past events
SOMAT Webinar Series Spring 2026
Theme: Diversity in Norway & East Asia
1st Webinar: Tuesday, 14 April 2026, 9AM-10:30 AM CET 2026
Theme: Governance, sustainability and mediated diversity
09:00-09:05 Welcome, by Zoran Lee Pecic and Yu Cheng, NTNU
09:05-09:20 Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
Seulgi Lee (PhD student), Farming Diversity: Raising Atlantic salmon in the Pacific Ocean
09:20-09:35 Tsinghua University
Jingwei Wu (Associate Professor) and Sijing Song (PhD Student), Conflicts and bonding between motherhoods: Mediated extensive motherhood of Chinese rural mothers on Douyin
09:35-09:50 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
Nan Wang (Professor), Origin and Operation of the Chinese Academy of Engineering: An Interaction between Expertise and Politics
09:50-10:05 Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Martine Sletten (PhD candidate), Friction and Flow: An Approach to Empirical Intersectional Research
10:05-10:20 Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
Ern Chern (PhD student), Artificial Intelligence Patents and the Sustainable Development Goals: A Comparative Analysis of the United States and China
10:20-10:30 Final remarks & discussion
How can these topics lead to cross-pollination and collaboration?
2nd Webinar: Wednesday, 15 April 2026, 9 AM-10:30 AM CET
Theme: Inclusion, gender and accessibility
09:00-09:05 Welcome, by Zoran Lee Pecic, NTNU
09:05-09:20 Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Liv Quist Christiensen (PhD candidate), Queering space in higher jazz education
09:20-09:35 Tsinghua University
Chenyue Pan, Tokenized Female Undergraduates in STEM: A Case Study of an Elite University in China
09:35-09:50 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yanru Xu (Associate Professor), From Accessibility to Participation: Broadening Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Engineering and Computing Education through the OIPI Initiative in China
09:50-10:05 Tsinghua University
Zhanhong Wen (MA student), Living through sounds: the everyday lives and sound knowledge of blind and visually impaired people
10:05-10:20 Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
Joelle Champalet (PhD student), Making the Korean Smart City Sustainable: A Policy and Institutional History
10:20-10:30 Final remarks & discussion
How can these topics lead to cross-pollination and collaboration?
3rd Webinar: Thursday, 16 April 2026, 9 AM CET 2026
Theme: Digital cultures, AI and representation (closed webinar)
09:00-09:05 Welcome, by Zoran Lee Pecic, NTNU
09:05-09:20 Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Elanor Halvorsen Brendmo (PhD candidate), Men’s experiences with a challenging relationship with food, body image, and/or exercise
09:20-09:35 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yishi Lyu (PhD candidate), In Search of Diversity in the Digital World: A Comparative Analysis of Three Mobile Operating Systems
09:35-09:50 Tsinghua University
Baicheng Sun, How Chinese programmers imagine generative artificial intelligence
09:50-10:05 Institute of Science Tokyo
Ryota Isshi (PhD student), Script Diversity and Materiality on Shopfronts across Chinatowns in Asia
10:05-10:20 Institute of Science Tokyo
Nano Kojima (PhD student), Vision-Language Models as Cultural Apparatuses: A Study of Gender Representation
10:20-10:30 Final remarks & discussion
How can these topics lead to cross-pollination and collaboration?
SOMAT Webinar Series Spring 2025
Theme: Digitalization in Norway & East Asia
This is the 2nd webinar series, focusing on digitalization is set for spring 2025 and will consist of 3 episodes.
1st Webinar: March 31st (Monday), 9AM-10:30 AM CET 2025 (10 min each presentation + 5 min Q/A)
Meeting start: 4PM in Japan/Korea, 3PM in China, 9AM in Norway
SOMAT ongoing work
09:00-09:05 Welcome, by Roger Søraa and Cheng Yu, NTNU
09:05-09:20 Norwegian University of Science and Technology: Roger Søraa, “Working towards fairness in artificial intelligence worker management”
09:20-09:35 Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology: Heesun Shin, "Robot Hyodol and the Digitalization of Eldercare in Korea"
09:35-09:50 Tsinghua University: Can Xu, “When Automation Becomes a Burden, Rethinking ‘Digital Formalism’ in China's Water Environment Governance”
09:50-10:05 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences: Jiang Yu, “To Deepen the Value-Creating Collaboration under Digitalization”
10:05-10:20 Institute of Science Tokyo: Xinru Zhu, "From Metal to Digital: The Evolution of Type Technology and Its Impact on Individuated Reading Experiences"
10:20-10:30 Final remarks & discussion: How can these topics lead to cross-pollination and collaboration?
2nd Webinar: April 24th (Thursday), 2025. 9 AM-10:30 AM CET (10 min each presentation + 5 min Q/A)
Theoretical approaches
09:00-09:05 Welcome, by Roger Søraa and Cheng Yu, NTNU
09:05-09:20 Norwegian University of Science and Technology: Håkon Fyhn, “Perspectives on work-life automation from the project AUTOWORK”
09:20-09:35 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences: Dazhou Wang, “Leveraging Artificial Intelligence to Enhance the Responsible Research and Innovation Framework”
09:35-09:50 Tsinghua University: Jingwei Wu, “Automation, Cybernetics and Human-machine Communication”
09:50-10:05 Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology: Chihyung Jeon, "Robotics and the Co-Production of Technology and Society"
10:05-10:20 Institute of Science Tokyo: Kayoko Nohara, "An Introduction to Translation Studies - Thinking Cultural Diversity through the Lenses of Translation"
10:20-10:30 Final remarks & discussion: How can these topics lead to cross-pollination and collaboration?
3rd Webinar: April 30th (Wednesday), 9 AM CET 2025
Student presentations, closed webinar (10 min each presentation + 5 min Q/A)
09:00-09:05 Welcome, by Roger Søraa and Cheng Yu, NTNU
09:05-09:20 Norwegian University of Science and Technology: Shan Wang, “Digitalize fairness with AI: AI for goodness in hiring and recruitment”
09:20-09:35 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences: Chenzhe Tang, “AI Companions and Digital Intimacy: The Rise of Virtual Love”
09:35-09:50 Tsinghua University: Manru Chen, “The Invisibility of Beautified Images: The Trace of The Hands”
09:50-10:05 Institute of Science Tokyo: Erdenebat Battseren, "Multimodal Affect-State Recognition Utilizing LLaMA-Adapter"
10:05-10:20 Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology: Frictions Around the Pipeline: Automated Waste Collection System and Manual Maintenance
10:20-10:30 Final remarks & discussion: How can these topics lead to cross-pollination and collaboration?
There are three thematic areas for our upcoming webinar series: sustainability, digitalization, and diversity. We will have one webinar series for each topic.
The first webinar series on sustainability started in Spring 2024 and will have three episodes. You can find the detailed program here.
First Autumn School Series in Tokyo, Sept 30 - October 04 2024
First Autumn School Series in Tokyo, Sept 30 - October 04 2024
We are planning the first Autumn School Series in Tokyo this October! Are you ready to embark on a life-changing academic experience? Join us at the SOMAT-project Autumn Graduate School in Tokyo from September 30 to October 04, 2024!
This autumn school's main target is master's students, and it is open for PhD students in both Science and Technology Studies (STS) and Equality and Diversity students. We invite you to apply to participate in this unique opportunity.
Not only will you gain international experience, but you will also attend courses taught by prestigious professors and communicate with other brilliant minds from our partner universities. Don't miss out on this chance to broaden your horizons and expand your knowledge! The project will cover flights, transport, and accommodations.
SoMaT Tokyo Kick-off 21-22 Sept 2023
SoMaT Tokyo Kick-off 21-22 Sept 2023
We cannot wait to share the exciting news with you! SoMaT Project had its first successful kick-off event in Tokyo with all four partners. We had the honor to have Her Excellency Ms. Kristin Iglum, Ambassador of Norway to Japan kick off the first day!
You can find our below agenda for our 2-day kick-off:
To read more about the event, read this blog post from TiTech Nohara Lab!
Kayoko Nohara
Dazhou Wang
Wei Hong
Chihyung Jeon
NTNU LIFEBOTS-Exchange-Extended Project visited TiTech with KAIST in March 2023
NTNU LIFEBOTS-Exchange-Extended Project visited TiTech with KAIST in March 2023
The RCN-funded LIFEBOTS-Exchange-Extended (LEE, 2020-2023) project brings together Norwegian companies and public organizations with academic experts to envision the future of robotics in the healthcare sector and expand the impact and reach of the EU-funded LIFEBOTS Exchange (2019-2025) Project.
In March 2023, our LEE project, including partners Ålesund Municipality, an SME Jodacare that develops smart glasses devices, and an industry consulting firm PA Consulting, went on a study trip to Japan; the first stop was Tokyo to visit our SoMaT partner Kayoko Nohara's Lab at TiTech together with our KAIST partner leader Chihyung Jeon who happens to have his sabbatical year at University of Tokyo.
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