A briefing session regarding the 2014 International Faculty Development Program was held on Wednesday, December 3.

NAIST has been running this program since 2004 to improve teaching and curriculum design among faculty members. This year, again, the two week program (October 12-26) was implemented as part of NAIST's "Globalization Strategic Plan 2011".

As in previous years, six faculty members--two from each graduate school--participated in the program. The first week was held at our partner school, University of California, Davis (UCD), and the second week was spent at laboratories in universities and research institutes selected according to participant preferences in order to study and observe hands-on graduate education.

Participant comments included the following: "It was a precious opportunity to experience the differences between teaching methods in Japan and in the United States and to reflect back on how to apply them here", and "It was a great opportunity to meet with other faculty members", and "I would like to make use of this experience to manage my laboratory and instruct students"

The session was concluded with encouraging comments from President Naotake Ogasawara, echoed by executive board members, that he hopes participants will share with other faculty to make use of what they acquired through this program and to enhance the quality of education and NAIST globalization more broadly.