Overseas FD training program 2022 debriefing session (March 8, 2023)

NAIST's Overseas Faculty Development Training Program 2022 debriefing session was held online on March 8th.

The Overseas Faculty Development Training Program was established in 2004 to further enrich the educational quality by improving the faculty's ability of education, research and laboratory management using English. The program has been held online for the past two years due to the spread of covid-19 virus, but this year we were able to send three faculty members abroad. Participants and their destinations are as follows. Assistant Professor Soufi Mazen (Information Science) stayed at Bonn University, Germany; Associate Professor SASAGAWA Kiyotaka (Materials Science) stayed at Columbia University, USA; and Professor Mikiya Fujii (Materials Science) stayed at the University of Perugia, Italy. Each of them stayed in a laboratory for about one week.

In the debriefing session, participants shared what they learned through visiting laboratories at other universities. As an example, one comment was that there are many differences between Japan and laboratories in other countries in the way they organize the project teams that consist of the students from different universities, and in the roles and responsibilities of the project leaders. The participants looked upon the differences they experienced positively as valuable learning experiences.

Finally, President SHIOZAKI Kazuhiro asked the participants about what they felt they would like to implement their own laboratory management, and they expressed the variety of opinions, such as separating research from technical work, creating an atmosphere that motivates students and project management methods. It is expected that their experiences in Overseas Faculty Development Training Program will lead to the further globalization and development of NAIST.