Kasetsart University (Thailand) Delegation Visit (September 22nd, 2022)

On September 22nd, Prof. Kanapol Juthamanee (Director of Kasetsart University Institute for Advanced Studies (KUIAS)), Prof. Tanapon Chaisan (Assistant to the President for Research and Creation) and Prof. Nisa Leksungnoen (Vice Director of KUIAS for Academic Affairs) visited NAIST.

At the courtesy visit, Dr. Jun Ohta (Vice President/Executive Director), Dr. Takahito Shikano (Chief URA) and Mr. Robert King (Chief UEA) welcomed the delegates. Since NAIST concluded an academic agreement with Kasetsart University (KU) in 2010, active exchange has been ongoing including the opening of the NAIST Thailand Office within the KU Faculty of Engineering building in 2017 and the establishment of the master's double degree program with the KU Faculty of Engineering in 2021. During the courtesy visit, Prof. Juthamanee gave an overview of KUIAS and both parties discussed how to deepen faculty and student exchange based on the long history of mutual collaboration.

After the courtesy visit, delegates visited the Software Engineering Laboratory (Prof. Kenichi Matsumoto, Assistant Prof. Bodin Chinthanet) in the Division of Information Science, and the Nanomaterials and Polymer Chemistry Laboratory (Prof. Hiroharu Ajiro, Assistant Prof. Nalinthip Chanthaset) in the Division of Materials Science, where KU graduates are currently working as faculty.

In the afternoon, delegates also visited three laboratories in the Division of Biological Science, the Plant Growth Regulation Laboratory (Prof. Masaaki Umeda), the Plant Developmental Signaling Laboratory (Prof. Keiji Nakajima), and the Plant Secondary Metabolism Laboratory (Associate Prof. Takayuki Tohge), whose research fields are related to KUIAS's, and active discussion was made between delegates and lab members. This was a valuable opportunity for both the KU delegation and NAIST to consider future developments in education and research.