SAKURA SCIENCE High School Program Group 2
Getting a Sense of Global Top-Level Research at NIMS
On June 19 (Thursday), Indian high school students visiting Japan in the 2nd group of the Sakura Science High School Program (SSHP) had the opportunity to experience global top-level materials research at the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS).
For the lab tour, they visited three: Dr. Yukiko Takahashi's lab, which is developing high-performance magnetic devices, Dr. A. Bandyopadhy's lab, which is conducting research on artificial intelligence with processes similar to the human brain, and Dr. A. Islam's lab, which is developing organic-inorganic hybrid solar cells.
Each of the labs included Indian post-doctorates and students in the NIMS Graduate Program (https://www.nims.go.jp/students/index.html) within its members. The high school students' eyes sparkled with interest as they focused on the explanations, which used visual aids such as experiment materials, videos, and models. Seeing them thoroughly understand the difficult research content and ask questions about it made an impression.
Dr. A. Islam's laboratory
Also, the students had a chance to hear about the experiences of Dr. Aunsaya Eksatit (from Thailand), a former Sakura Science Program participant. After participating in the 2017 Sakura Science Program, Dr. Eksatit went on to study abroad at Hokkaido University on the NIMS Student Program. She earned her doctorate and is now a young researcher at NIMS. Her story undoubtedly resonated with the high school students.
As they were leaving, we could hear some students saying, “I want to be a researcher at NIMS in the future!”
