NAIST delegation participated in Indonesia-NAIST Alumni Association annual meeting (September 2, 2023)

　The annual meeting of the Indonesia-NAIST Alumni Association (INAA) was held on Saturday, September 2, 2023, at IPB University Baranansiang Campus in Bogor, Indonesia. INAA was established in 2013 as NAIST's first international student alumni association and has been working on building networks among alumni and acting as liaison between NAIST and alumni. The association is based at the NAIST Indonesia Office, which was established in 2016 in a building adjacent to the above-mentioned campus.

　At the meeting, a total of 33 of approximately 100 alumni members attended. Alumni are active in universities and government agencies throughout Indonesia and many faculty members and researchers gathered from IPB University, Gadjah Mada University, University of Indonesia, Jenderal Soedirman University, and other universities, as well as the Indonesian National Research Innovation Agency (BRIN), a government research institution.

　6 members from NAIST including Prof. Yasumasa Bessho (Director of the Division of Biological Sciences/Director of NAIST Indonesia Office), Prof. Hisaji Maki (Division of Biological Sciences), Asst. Prof. Juan Paolo Bermundo (Division of Materials Science), Mr. Takashi Imura (Director of Service and Support Department) and 2 International Affairs Division staff members traveled to Indonesia to attend the meeting.

　The meeting began with opening remarks by Prof. Edy Meiyanto (Gadjah Mada University) and Prof. Bessho. Then Prof. Bessho gave an overview of NAIST's recent activities and exchanges with Indonesia. Dr. Yekti Asih Purwestri (Vice President of INAA/Gadjah Mada University) followed him with a report on the activities of INAA. The meeting was closed with a speech by Dr. Berry Juliandi (Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, IPB University), who is the President of INAA.

　In the evening, about 50 people including family members of alumni got together for a dinner gathering. The gathering was held in a friendly atmosphere as participants talked about their memories at NAIST and how their life is going recently.

　During their visit to Indonesia, the NAIST delegation also visited the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of Gadjah Mada University, the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Indonesia, the Center for Genetic Engineering, BRIN and the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at IPB University, where they held meetings with faculty members including NAIST alumni, to discuss future academic exchange and held seminars to introduce NAIST for prospective students.

　Through this visit to Indonesia, we reaffirmed the strong ties between NAIST and Indonesia through alumni network, and look forward to further development of educational and research exchange based on these networks.