Activity Report of Open Application Course vol.24
Nanotechnology Simulation Science Using Super Computers
Report from Maezono Ryo, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Technology,
Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
A total of six university undergraduate students from Indonesia (1 institution), and India (1 institution) were accepted for training in internships under the theme of nanotechnology simulation science using super computers scheduled from December 16 to December 24, 2019.
The participants personally set up my their own PC that they built to constitute parallel computers to allow them to experience high-speed electronic state simulations, as well as to undertake the issue of experiencing a variety of related electronic state computing software. I setup groups composed of two people from different countries and having different genders, and by their cooperating to build a Linux computer system, the participants were able to interact, and the interactions between the students and international students belonging to the university who cooperated as part-time student worker progressed quite naturally.
Because the undergraduate students at our university took advantage of their past experience in implementing the Sakura Science Exchange Program and proactively attended lectures, it was also easy for participants candidly to ask questions and probe uncertainties, thereby making it a start-up in which genuine two-way communication was ensured.
After successfully completing the overall series of tutorials, and the basic classroom work for electronic state computations and statistical analyses, we all welcomed the upcoming weekend. During the weekend that was sandwiched partway through the seminar, we planned a tour of the historical sites in Kanazawa City. Utilizing the experiences gained from conducting this several times in the past made it possible for the university undergraduate students to go on an intensive tour of historical sites surrounding Kanazawa attractions. On the last day, we held a session for discussions and questions regarding summaries of each project.
All of the participants are undergraduate students pursuing graduate studies in mathematics, and are studying at the highest ranked schools in their home countries. They had many lively questions about the future policy of their activities using this project research as a stepping stone toward participating in international co-authored papers. The content of our curriculum has been well developed thanks to its continuation over several years. At the beginning of the event, the content of the internship was enriched, such as questions regarding ethical research issues that Asian students are generally prone to fall into, for the future research activities of the participants.
The reception of outstanding Asian students is also very beneficial for the university undergraduate students at our school, and it is a good opportunity for students to develop their abilities by stimulating them and giving each other a sense of having a close relationship in the lab. While there is the aspect of the channels of interaction with overseas institutions that have relied heavily on individual laboratory connections, I feel that comprehensive backup as a country, such as with this project, is extremely important to maintain the ongoing nucleophilic power of university institutions and by extension, Japan as a whole, as the areas of interest to students and the laboratory line-ups within the university also change over time.
Acquisition of outstanding Asian students can be one of the key lifelines for the University, where more than 40% of the students are from foreign countries, but we need always to be aware of how attractive we can be compared to Europe and the United States for students who aspire to study abroad. In the case of our University, we feel very grateful for securing positive appeal opportunities through this project because of the low geographic profile of the University compared to Kanto and Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe. We would like to reiterate our sincerest gratitude to the Sakura Science Exchange Program for that during this time there were several students who expressed their desire to enter our university and are investigating the procedures required for admission.
