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Five years seems like a long time, but it may pass in a blink of the eye. In fact, the HIRAKU-Global Researchers (HGRs), who come from all different fields and backgrounds, spend five years together within the researcher development program of HIRAKU-Global. During this event, the 2nd Cohort HGRs, who have undergone their final program evaluations and will complete their time within the HIRAKU-Global program, held a debrief event to review their time as HGRs, pass along their experience and knowledge to the junior HGR cohorts, and also make suggestions and proposals to improve HIRAKU-Global for the future.

MATSUMOTO Daisuke (Regenerative Medicine Project, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science), who was one of the main event organizers and also facilitated the event, started off with a short introduction of the 2nd Cohort HGRs, followed by a discussion of the format and goals of the event at-large. This was followed by short discussions led by IDETA Shinichiro (Research Institute for Synchrotron Radiation Science, ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ), MATSUSAKI Motonori (Institute of Advanced Medical Sciences, Tokushima University), INAGAKI Mai (Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University), MIZOGUCHI Yoko (Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ), and TARUTANI Naoki (Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ) about collaboration and travel. Specifically, the participants discussed the importance of how to work with collaborators, both domestic and international, and also practical challenges (and solutions) with working with collaborators from various fields and backgrounds and with different goals and communication styles. Specifically, one of the main points that came out of this discussion was the importance of challenging oneself by seeking out collaborators and connections with researchers from fields different from oneself¡¯s, both to learn new techniques but also to make one¡¯s research more comprehensive.

The next topic of focus was mentorship and lab management, with short discussions led by ENJU Satomi (Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Ehime University), HASUIKE Rina (Graduate School of Sciences and Technology for Innovation, Yamaguchi University), INAGAKI Mai, MIZOGUCHI Yoko, TARUTANI Naoki, and MATSUSAKI Motonori. For example, some topics discussed included how to encourage and support students in one¡¯s own lab in their education and research, and especially to challenge themselves in presenting at international conferences and pursue international collaborative research. These students will be the future leaders in their respective research fields, and how to convey the importance and interestingness of research to these students is an important task for all researchers. Similarly, many of the HGRs are also simultaneously balancing research, education, and even management duties; sometimes, researchers are assigned up to 10 new bachelor¡¯s or master¡¯s students each year for educational reasons. Thus, how one can balance such activities while making enough time for one¡¯s own research to progress became another important discussion topic.

The final portion of the event was to review and propose new initiatives and suggestions with a goal to improve HIRAKU-Global for the future. This included a short introduction of potential partnerships with external organizations to run joint programs/initiatives, as well as an introduction of the ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ Writing Center by Writing Advisory Julie Tanner, including the Writing Center¡¯s goals and support offerings.

It is with this impetus and willingness to support the more junior HGR cohorts that makes HIRAKU-Global as a program proud to have been able to work with and support such talented researchers in the 2nd HGR Cohort. We look forward to what type of research these HGRs do as future leaders in their fields, and also how they continue to support students and other early career researchers who will become the next generation of research leaders in the future!

2nd Cohort HGRs

ENJU Satomi, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Ehime University 
HASUIKE Rina, Graduate School of Sciences and Technology for Innovation, Yamaguchi University 
IDETA Shinichiro, Research Institute for Synchrotron Radiation Science, ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ 
INAGAKI Mai, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University 
MATSUMOTO Daisuke, Regenerative Medicine Project, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science 
MATSUSAKI Motonori, Institute of Advanced Medical Sciences, Tokushima University 
MIZOGUCHI Yoko, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ 
TARUTANI Naoki, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ