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The University of California San Diego, together with Point Loma Nazarene University and the Kyoto Symposium Organization, will host the 25th Annual Kyoto Prize Symposium on March 11-12, 2026. The multi-day event on the UC San Diego campus will feature free, public lectures by three of the world’s most preeminent thinkers and researchers in the areas of ethics, artificial intelligence and life sciences.
The Kyoto Prize is Japan’s highest private award for global visionaries who have made scientific and cultural advancements that benefit humankind. The 2025 Kyoto Prize laureates are Shun-ichi Amari for Advanced Technology, Azim Surani for Basic Sciences and Carol Gilligan for Arts and Philosophy. Online registration is now open for the Kyoto Prize Symposium.
The late Dr. Kazuo Inamori established the nonprofit Inamori Foundation in 1984 based on his life philosophy and founded the Kyoto Prize as its primary activity. Since the inception of San Diego’s Kyoto Prize Symposium, local events have generated more than $5 million in educational funding and college scholarships to the San Diego/Baja region. The Kyoto Symposium Organization is a San Diego-based nonprofit established to support the Kyoto Prize Symposium and Kyoto Prize Symposium Scholarship programs.
Inamori, who founded Kyocera Corporation in 1959, established San Diego-based Kyocera International, Inc., just 10 years later as his first subsidiary company outside of Japan. Today, the Kyocera Group includes nearly 300 companies and more than 79,000 employees worldwide.
Preceding the symposium talks on March 10 will be a fundraising gala to support the Kyoto Prize Symposium scholarships and youth outreach program. Please visit the Kyoto Prize website for more information and to register.
The following Kyoto Prize Symposium presentations will be held on the UC San Diego campus March 11-12:
Azim Surani
AloJapan.com