Hello,
I am Thant Zin Tun from Myanmar

I got the opportunity to participate in the Sakura Science Program in February 2018 and it was one of the greatest opportunities and experience of my life. It was great to be able to visit Japan and get to know the Japanese education system and culture. I have been wanting to visit Japan for my higher career studies because I am a lecturer from the Department of Chemistry, University of Yangon, Myanmar (now Pathein University). During the program, we were able to visit various places and universities related to the science and advanced technology in Japan. We enjoyed the delicious Japanese food and visited some famous places.

We spent most of our time in the Faculty of Science in Josai University. There, we had opportunities to meet with Japanese professors, discuss their current research topics and take experiment using advanced instruments in their faculty. Moreover, we had opportunities to visit JAXA Center, Tokyo Denki University and University of Tokyo. This program helps me to better understand the current research, science and education system.

I am sure that the Sakura Science Program was the big turning point of my life because SSP motivated me to be more focused in my studies and to apply for Japanese scholarship. Therefore, I got the MEXT scholarship (university recommendation) at Kumamoto University, Japan. Now, I am studying PhD course in Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology in the Department of Chemistry at Graduate School of Science and Technology (GSST), Kumamoto University since October, 2019. Furthermore, in 2021, I was selected as one of the future leaders for the ASEAN-Japan marine plastic combatting issue and currently participating in a pilot project for “Marine Plastic Waste Education for Hiroshima-ASEAN Eco School”.

I am really grateful to the Sakura Science Program for organizing various programs to motivate students around the world.