We're pleased to announce that the 7th GRIPS Student Conference will be held on Tuesday 4 September 2018 and seek your participation in it.

The Conference brings together a diverse group of students, researchers, and professionals from various disciplines and backgrounds to share their ideas and research findings in a bid to find innovative solutions to the local, regional, and global challenges today.

Three years ago, the world leaders adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that provide a holistic framework for action aimed at, among others, ending poverty, tackling inequalities, resolution of conflicts, and ensuring carbon neutral and environmentally sustainable economic growth.

While most economies have recovered from the financial crisis, and emerging economies recorded significant economic growth, the benefits of this positive economic development have been spread unevenly. Widening income inequality, uneven distribution of access to basic opportunities, as well as environmental degradation are reported to hit the poorest the most. Clouds of uncertainty, such as the nuclear talks with Iran and North Korea, the rise of cybersecurity issues, the challenges to the implementation of the Paris Agreement, are yet to be dispelled. In addition, increased protectionism, exemplified by the US' withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the alleged global trade wars initiated by President Trump's decision to increase tariffs on steel and aluminum, might undermine the benefits of globalization, creating new hurdles for policymakers to overcome. These create an unprecedented and complex international environment. How should policymakers guide the international community through the mist of these multilayered and multifaceted challenges?

This sets the stage for a fascinating conference, which will center on the theme of "Public Policy for Peace and Sustainable Growth". The Conference will cover a wide range of topics, from international relations, security and development, innovation & technology to domestic policy and economics.

The conference is open to all GRIPS and non-GRIPS students, researchers, and professionals. It provides an excellent opportunity for young as well as established researchers to share expertise in important policy areas, contribute to existing scholarship, and expand their network of colleagues and collaborators. Participation is free of charge. A Certificate of Presentation will be awarded to all presenters.

We invite both empirical and conceptual papers on any policy issue that is relevant to the conference theme of peace and sustainable growth. Below are some broad areas in which we invite presentations.

• International relations
• Development economics and studies
• Security studies
• Macroeconomics
• Globalisation
• Environment
• Social & public policy
• Disaster management
• Innovation & technology

Presenters will have around 25 minutes to present and answer questions. The official language of the conference is English.

If you would like to present a paper at the 7th GRIPS Student Conference, please pre-register online (http://bit.ly/2NBsgXT) or send an email to studentconference@grips.ac.jp by Sunday 5 August with your tentative presentation title. An abstract of 200-300 words should then be submitted online (http://bit.ly/2L8mNGj) by Sunday 12 August. All abstracts must include a title, author(s)' name(s), affiliation, and e-mail, and 3-5 keywords. The abstract should describe the theme of the paper and the theory and research method used, and give a summary of the main conclusions. Authors whose abstracts have been accepted will be notified by e-mail by Sunday 19 August. Presenters whose papers have been accepted should send their presentation slides to the Conference Committee by e-mail no later than Friday 31 August.

Preregistration (including title) via this form (http://bit.ly/2NBsgXT), Sunday, 5 August, 2018

Submission of abstracts for review via this form (http://bit.ly/2L8mNGj), Sunday, 12 August, 2018

Authors are notified of their status, Sunday, 19 August, 2018

Submission of presentation slides, Friday, 31 August, 2018

Inquiries can be e-mailed to studentconference@grips.ac.jp.

Please check further info and latest updates at the Student Conference website: