On Saturday, April 25, RIKEN Kobe Institute held its Open Day as part of the 2009 Science & Technology Week. All of the staff from this year's open day would like to thank the 1,404 visitors who attended the Open Day despite a day of miserable weather, setting a record for the second-highest attendance to date.

The many children who attended the open day had a great time and were seen all over the campus, peering wonderingly into microscopes in the open labs, having their photos taken wearing white lab coats and wide grins at the "You can be a scientist too!" photography session, and pulling their mothers and fathers around as they tackled the quiz rally.

Crowds were so large at presentations by Shigeru Kuratani, Group Director of the Center for Developmental Biology, and Hirotaka Onoe, Group Leader at the Center for Molecular Imaging Science, that there were not enough seats and many in the audience had to stand. It was clear from the lively question and answer sessions that followed the presentations that attendees had found the topics extremely interesting.

Finally, at the third-ever Science Cafe, attendees were invited to discuss the question, "Would you like a medicine that improves your memory?"

We hoped you enjoyed your visit! We're planning fun events and projects again for next year, so be sure not to miss it. And thank you again for attending this year's Open Day!

Contact
Doug Sipp [e-mail: sipp@cdb.riken.jp ]
for more information.
RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology (CDB)
2-2-3 Minatojima Minamimachi Chuo-ku,
Kobe 650-0047 Japan
Tel: +81-78-306-3043