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2026.10.10News

shin-socrates-feedback-table

Respondent	What was the best part of the Shin-Socrates?	What could have been better for the Shin-Socrates? How can we improve it if we organize something similar?	If you did pre-jClub, how was it? If you could not do the pre-jClub, do you mind giving us why? How can we improve the participation?	Any other thoughts?
JY	All the amazing discussions. Outstanding!! Truly. And the organization was quite good.	Five in a room is pretty tight, since the rooms are designed for families not five adults. And maybe mix up the food venues or style a bit if possible. But this is very minor and the food was quite good I thought.	It was great!	I thought it was really great. I was blown away bit the whole thing.
HO	The open and interdisciplinary discussions were the best part for me. It was particularly valuable to hear very different perspectives on consciousness and to explore possible connections across theoretical, experimental, and computational approaches.	Perhaps more time could be dedicated to discussion in the first days of the meeting to identify common questions and terminology across the different approaches. This could help prevent discussions from becoming too theory-specific and make it easier to identify concrete points of agreement, disagreement, and possible experimental tests.	I participated in the pre-jClub and found it very useful. Discussing predictive processing, active inference, interoception, and consciousness beforehand helped me better understand perspectives outside my immediate research area and better prepare me for the broader discussions during Shin-Socrates.	The short and discussion-oriented format worked well. Keeping the reading workload manageable and emphasizing that participants do not need to be experts in the selected topic may encourage broader participation.
NY	Active and free discussion	-Regarding the social dinner, it might be better if we can order alcohol easier and simpler. -It would be better if we have name tag .	–	Thank you for all of organizers for this great event!
MG	The reflection time was very useful this time	It was particularly strenuous for some reason	Maybe add as default that everyone gets assigned a random paper to present if they don’t chose one? Not compulsory but it would help people who can’t chose. Like a lottery.	–
Anonymous	drinking party🥳	It may be better to do group discussion for several times	–	–
HC	Regarding the academic program, the sessions organized by early-career researchers were particularly stimulating. The group work discussing future directions during the wrap-up session was also enjoyable. As for the venue, watching the fireworks from the hot spring on the eighth floor was especially memorable.	Having some reflection time would be valuable for encouraging continued discussion among participants who share similar interests. Alternatively, it might be helpful to have a short group discussion on a common topic before the parallel sessions. This could provide an opportunity to explore the topic from different perspectives and help deepen the subsequent discussions about future directions.	I joined two pre-MTG journal clubs an MC, and it was a great opportunity to learn about other participants’ interests and identify key issues that could be discussed further during the in-person meeting. One thing I regretted was that we did not have a session during the on-site meeting to follow up on and deepen the discussions from the pre-MTG journal clubs. To encourage greater participation in the pre-MTG journal clubs and make them more valuable, especially for participants who are new to the field, how about suggesting several essential papers to read before attending the on-site meeting?	Thank you very much to everyone who organized and supported this meeting. I can only imagine how much time and effort went into making it possible.
KI	Free discussion and invited seminars	We could have given chance to present their posters for those who arrived late (on Day 3 or later).	–	–
Anonymous	Poster	It might have been easier to have relaxed discussions if everyone had stayed at the same hotel. I joined on the third day, so I would have appreciated it if the posters had remained on display during the latter part of the meeting as well.	At J-Club, I read a paper on phenomenology with Chikayo.	Thank you so much, Keisuke and everyone on the organizing team. I had really hoped to attend the entire meeting, so I was disappointed that childcare responsibilities meant I could only join for three days. Still, I really appreciated the relaxed atmosphere, which made it easy to have thoughtful discussions. I also made friends with some of the younger researchers. I think the way this community supports early-career researchers is one of its greatest strengths. I understand that this was the last project meeting, but I would be happy to help plan and organize another gathering, perhaps next year, as a final wrap-up for the project. What do you think about holding it with registration fees and discounted rates for students?
Anonymous	the discussion groups are actually discussion-oriented, with most time dedicated to discussions rather than talks.	It would have been better if we could keep the posters in the one place throughout the meeting. This makes it easier for participants to go back to a specific poster for further discussions. But I also understand that it is probably very expensive to book the big room for all the days in a popular onsen hotel.	I did the pre j club and it went well. I like the inclusion of buddism related papers.	–
RK	parallel discussion	Unfortunately, I joined partway through, so I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself or hear everyone else’s introductions, which was a bit disappointing. Maybe it could be helpful to split the self-introductions into two parts, one at the beginning and another later on (e.g., Day 1 and Day4)?	–	I came with my family, but the meeting was very flexible and family-friendly, so I didn’t experience any inconvenience at all. I felt very comfortable, and I really appreciated that.
MI	It was a good idea to split up the poster presentations. Personally, I was glad we were able to have plenty of informal, small-group discussions (at the posters, over lunch, etc.).	Nothing. If I had to say something, there were too much participants.	Since it was my first time participating, it was really great to be able to share my interests with some beforehand and get to know them.	–
YS	The discussion in the session I organized on the unity of the self. The audience was really engaged, and it was a great opportunity to share my own interests and opinions directly.	I think it would be more engaging if more participants organized their own sessions.	It was helpful for organizing my thoughts and figuring out what to talk about in the actual jClub at Lake Toya. Three of us (including me) attended the pre-jClub, but the small group was great for having an in-depth discussion.	Watching the fireworks from the rooftop bath was amazing. It's a great memory.
Anonymous	Yokoi-san's session	Meetface was very helpful. I think name tags would have made Meetface even more helpful.	I did not participate in the pre-jClub. It is very difficult for me to understand topics outside my field in English. For me, it would be helpful if we could use our first language for the presentation when we choose a paper from a very different field.	Thank you very much to everyone who organized this meeting.
Anonymous	The informality /self-organizing nature of the sessions, and the diversity of attendees	Sleeping accommodations, poster supplies lol	Good, and fun, but difficult to recruit attendees.	Perhaps different days/sessions can have more coordinated themes, but not sure about this
MM	The format and atmosphere was very suggesting for new ideas, I got 5 ideas forward, and three new article ideas. I have never had this fruitful ideation week in my life. I also got challenged which helped push me forward.	I feel the amount of people (around 80) was at the limits of what can comfortably hold an intimate atmosphere. I still think it was achieved.	J-Club helped me understand how others think on central questions.	Thank you so much. The organizers did a great job, there were absolutely no difficulties for me, and even my travel schedule was arranged. I had an unforgettable week.
JH	Informal exchange with so many interesting people/thinkers.	I appreciated the loose structure, where we filled things in spontaneously. Yet I think a bit more structure around a few things could have been good -- for example, for the book-chapter presentations.	I didn't manage, mostly because of such a big time change with most of the sessions.	It was a really great experience overall. Thank you!
TM	I think the best part was the discussions with others and discussing a wide range of topics across neuroscience, philosophy and AI.	I think the organisation of the meeting was fine, but I would have preferred if the talks were a little bit more organised and grouped by topic or area.	I didn't have time for pre-jClub, so I couldn't participate.	–
MS	The poster presentation served as a catalyst for discussions and Q&A sessions that continued day and night. I was particularly pleased to receive candid questions from young researchers.	What about holding small-group discussions on specific topics, similar to what we did on the last day? While discussing things in English can be intimidating in a classroom setting, that barrier is lower in small groups.	As I had business trips scheduled almost every week in September, I wasn’t able to prepare and couldn’t attend Pre-JClub.Having to debate in English makes it harder for me to prepare in advance. This is my own problem, and I’ve been reflecting on it.	–
TF	Poster presentation, Group discussion (final day)	Since the meeting took place during the teaching semester, I think a slightly shorter meeting would make it easier to participate.	Unfortunately, I had other commitments scheduled during the sessions covering topics I was particularly interested in discussing. Perhaps participants could be divided into several groups in advance, allowing each group to coordinate their schedules and find a suitable time for discussion.	–
NS	poster session, group discussion, fireworks from hot spring	overall it was excellenmt! It might be good to have some pre-activities other than just the journal club.	there were few participants. It might have been better to choose a topic that would interest more people.	–
Anonymous	Poster presentations, so many exciting studies in the group!	More breaks in between would be nice. Also, it might be better to form the group discussions earlier based on research interests/themes so we can develop the discussion over the course of the entire event. I think poster presentations followed by floor reflections and maybe a floor discussion towards the end might be sufficient to bring together people from various backgrounds to exchange comments/ideas while the majority of the time could be spent on focusing on one theme in greater depth. Considering how diverse the methodologies are for a given theme/idea, this approach would still require me to step outside my comfort zone.	Journal club was nice, but because ours was made up of new kobo-PIs who are all new to consciousness research we felt a bit unsure as to how our discussion is relevant to the field. It would have been nicer to have someone with more expertise on consciousness research join us.	–
KR	Definitely meeting up with everyone from Q-str and IIT, seeing how people's projects have progressed and having the chance to socialise and build a connection with people in the project, makes me feel a part of something and that is very motivating. The location was also really amazing, very cool to be there and see it.	I think as people's projects get more involved and there are more people invited, it can become overwhelming to try and maintain a high degree of engagement with everyone. Perhaps a kind of break in the middle would be good. Given this is not as full-immersion as the summer school, it could be conducive? But I imagine if people are only there for 5 days and we don't want to waste time	I did the pre-club and it was good. I think the hardest thing is timezone alignment so everyone can go, but there is no way to fix that! They can seem daunting before doing it, im not sure how to improve the participation. Both the J-clubs I have done for Q-str have always been really interesting and they force me to really engage with a topic, which is good. I always spend much more than 2 hours on it though.	None

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