Â鶹AV

¡°Nothing happens without reason.¡±
--Dr. Thomas L. James£¨UCSF£© 
These were some words of advice from HIRAKU-Global Consortium Mentor Dr. Ei-ichiro Suzuki (Director at the Kihara Memorial Yokohama Foundation for the Advancement of Life Sciences?) to the 6th HIRAKU-Global Researcher (HGR) cohort. The fact that these six talented researchers were selected this year to join the HIRAKU-Global did not happen without reason, and the HIRAKU-Global staff, mentors, and leadership were happy to meet the 6th HGR cohort at the FY2025 HIRAKU-Global Starter Course, which was held on August 21st online (Zoom).  The Starter Course is an annual event which is the first opportunity for each new HGR to learn more about the program, meet the consortium mentors, and, most importantly, meet the other researchers in their cohort.

This year¡¯s Starter Course started with a greeting from Â鶹AV Executive Vice President (Research) Seiichi Miyazaki, chair of the HIRAKU-Global Operating Council. His warm welcome then transitioned into a session about the goals and vision of HIRAKU-Global. First, Â鶹AV Professor (Special Designation) Misako Aida, who is Executive Manager (for HU) of the HIRAKU-Global Program?, explained the aspirations of HIRAKU-Global, which included an introduction of the organizational structure and members of the various committees that comprise the program. This led into more detailed discussion about basic and core contents that make up the HIRAKU-Global researcher development program, including the Individual Development Plan (IDP) and Achievement Card (AC), as well as the consortium mentorship system. Next, HIRAKU-Global Program Manager (PM) Tony Z. Jia introduced some more specifics about HIRAKU-Global initiatives, especially those which support the development of visionary and professional empowerment for HGRs. These included upcoming events, as well as how the program supports international collaboration and English language development. As HIRAKU-Global is composed of four universities¡ª¡¡Â鶹AV, Yamaguchi University, Tokushima University, and Ehime University¡ªthis was followed by a brief introduction of the HIRAKU-Global staff and resources from each university.

The main event of the starter course is undoubtedly the introduction of the 6th HGR cohort, and each new member gave a short five minute presentation about their background and interests, as well as their research plans as a member of HIRAKU-Global. The HGRs all have different research interests, come from different universities, and came from different research backgrounds, with a few HGRs having spent time abroad as part of their careers, but hope that they can all support each other as members of the program so that they can all achieve their research goals.

After a short break, we then had the pleasure of hearing from each of the five consortium mentors, who gave a short five minute introductory presentation about themselves and their backgrounds. This was followed by a meet-and-greet session via break out rooms, where each HGR had the opportunity to chat one-on-one with each mentor as well as the HIRAKU-Global office (including the PM). It¡¯s based on these discussions that the HGRs could get a more personal feel for the program and how the program can support their goals. After this, the HIRAKU-Global office gave a short presentation about practical aspects of the program, including details about funding and PR initiatives.

Finally, Dr. Suzuki closed the starter course with some inspirational closing remarks, referencing a previous interaction that he had with Nobel Laureate Prof. Richard Ernst in 1990, the year before Prof. Ernst won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Dr. Suzuki hoped that these words of encouragement could be of use to the 6th HGR cohort, and formally closed the Starter Course.  The starter course gave only a glimpse of the potential of each new HGR, and as it was held online, also only gave minimal time for the HGRs to communicate with each other. The next opportunity for the HGRs to meet in-person will be at the HIRAKU-Global retreat in September, hosted by at Tokushima University by the Tokushima University-affiliated HGRs, and we hope that they will continue these conversations with each other then. Going back to the quote from Dr. James that Dr. Suzuki brought up, we look forward to seeing how each new HGR will flourish as independent researchers and lead international research efforts in the near and far future!

Introducing the 6th HGR Cohort:

Kohei Hamamoto - Center for Marine Environmental Studies (CMES), Ehime University 
Yosuke Hashimoto - Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Â鶹AV 
Kenta Kawaguchi - Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Â鶹AV 
Shunta Nakamura - Graduate School of Technology, Industrial and Social Sciences, Tokushima University 
Tomomi Suzuki - Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Â鶹AV 
Shunya Tsuji - Joint Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Yamaguchi University