2020 Activity Report vol.2:Kobe University

Activity Report of Open Application Program 2020 vol.2 (Alternative Online)

Sakura Science Exchange Program Activity Report 2020 Online Exchange

Report from the Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University

The implementation of the Science and Technology Training Course "Agricultural Environmental Engineering Technology Training for Achieving SDGs at the Rim of the Indian Ocean" was scheduled for November this year. However, because of the coronavirus pandemic, the course was discontinued. However, an online exchange meeting using ZOOM was held on November 19, 2020, with the support of JST, in order to enhance the motivation of international students to participate in the course in the next year. Overseas participating institutions were the Department of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka, the Department of Agricultural Engineering, IPB University and the Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Andalas University, Indonesia. 116 people participated from all participating institutions, including faculty and students from Kobe University.

Examples of Online Exchange Participants

At the beginning, Kawabata Toshinori Dean, Graduate School of Agriculture Science introduced Kobe University and the Graduate School of Agricultural Science, and Secretary Hori, academic affairs student in the graduate school of agricultural science explained the study abroad program at Kobe University. Next, an overview explanation of the training course was given. The content is the training content that was planned for this fiscal year, and it is also the content that is planned to be implemented next fiscal year. This training is composed of four groups. The following explanations were given.

Professor Itoh Hiromichi: Explained the method of non-destructively measuring the starch concentration contained in saffron bulbs grown in artificial weather machines by light scattering measurement method.

Associate Professor Kuroki Shinichiro: Explained the method of quantitative evaluation of freshness retention effect by measuring lipid peroxides, antioxidant enzyme activity, and DPPH radical scavenging ability of spinach leaves stored at different temperature conditions.

Associate Professors Inoue Kazuya and Assistant Professor Suzuki Mariko: Explained the estimation of physical properties and measurement of strength characteristics of highly porous rocks and dam retaining walls for groundwater resources that are unique to Japan.

Associate Professor Sawada Yutaka: Explained how to design agricultural pipelines, how to construct pipelines using sheet pile and their issues, and model experiments for pipelines.

Next, using ZOOM's breakout rooms feature, participants were divided into the four groups described above. Detailed experiments were explained by Kobe University students and question-and-answer sessions were held with participants. This was repeated twice, so the participants were able to learn more about the training content of up to two groups. A very lively Q&A session was conducted regardless of the difference between the teacher and the student.

Finally, applying to the Sakura Science Exchange Program for the coming year with the explained training content and confirming that it is scheduled for implementation, the participating country faculties expressed their willingness actively to participate. Although it was half a day, it was a very meaningful exchange meeting that motivated international students to participate.