Waseda shares world-leading tsunami & disaster research with the world via free online course (MOOC)

2015/11/19 16:00

Waseda University has opened registration for a six-part open online course "Coastal Disasters, Tsunamis and Storm Surges - Lessons from the 2011 Tohoku Tsunami in Japan," to begin in January 2016.

2015-11-19

Waseda University

Waseda shares world-leading tsunami & disaster research with the world via free online course (MOOC)

TOKYO - Waseda University has created a six-part open online course entitled "Coastal Disasters, Tsunamis and Storm Surges - Lessons from the 2011 Tohoku Tsunami in Japan," to begin in January 2016.

Built on decades of work, Waseda continues to develop innovative strategies for natural disaster research across the country and for recovery after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. In 2013 a project to establish a base for sharing disaster mitigation research internationally, led by Professor Tomoya Shibayama (Faculty of Science and Engineering) was selected for funding by the Education Ministry over five years (2013-2018). Disaster experts and students from Canada, the United Kingdom, Iran, Indonesia, Thailand, Tanzania, Bhutan, Chile and Vietnam gathered at Waseda University to establish a base for the study of complex natural disasters including tsunamis, storm surges, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Results have been published in many international journals and received widespread praise.

This Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) will be available on the edX network and open to university and high school students and others around the world. The course will introduce current coastal disaster research and damage mitigation engineering to young people in order to raise awareness and share scientific analysis of disasters such as the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, and the 2013 Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.

Professor Shibayama shared his passionate vision. "I want to share Waseda's natural disaster research and its underlying theories in a way that is easy to understand. We will share the knowledge we have acquired with the world, and build an international network for seaboard countries, starting with tsunami research. Over many years, we have had numerous international students study in our lab. Many have continued their research activities or gone on to work for government organizations, using their knowledge of disaster mitigation plans in their home countries. Through this online course, I want to share our knowledge with students who cannot study in Japan and give them an opportunity to get involved in disaster mitigation research."

Registration is open now.