NAIST's Overseas Faculty Development Training Program 2023 debriefing session was held online on March 8th.

The Overseas Faculty Development Training Program was established in 2004 to further enrich educational quality by improving the faculty's abilities regarding education, research and laboratory management using English.
This year, 3 faculty members (Assistant Professor Taishi Sawabe (Information Science), Associate Professor Raula Gaikovina Kula (Information Science), and Associate Professor Shoko Wakamiya (Information Science)) were sent abroad. Assistant Professor Sawabe visited INRIA (France), the Royal College of Art (UK) and the University of Glasgow (UK), Associate Professor Raula Gaikovina Kula (Information Science) visited University College London (UK), and Associate Professor Shoko Wakamiya (Information Science) visited The German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) and University of Western Brittany (France), etc. They reported on what they learned during their one-week lab stay.

The faculty discussed things including the differences in teaching methodologies and laboratory atmosphere, and they thought there were many aspects of the laboratories they visited that they could apply to their own laboratories.

Following the faculty members' presentations, President Kazuhiro Shiozaki asked the participants what specifically they would like to bring back to their laboratory from the host institutions. Participants expressed their desire to create more friendly connection between faculty and students, and to create opportunities to discuss research in a relaxed atmosphere by taking advantage of lunch, coffee breaks, and other casual settings. It is hoped that the experience gained from this FD training will lead to the further internationalization and development of NAIST.