ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ

¡¾Date¡¿Fri., July 31, 2026

¡¾Event method¡¿Online (Zoom)

¡¾³§±è±ð²¹°ì±ð°ù²õ¡¿
¡¡FAN Fan, Faculty of Collaborative Regional Innovation, Ehime University (5th Cohort)
¡¡HAMAMOTO Kohei, Premier Institute for Advanced Studies (PIAS)
¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡ Center for Marine Environmental Studies (CMES), Ehime University (6th Cohort)

On July 31st, 2026, HIRAKU-Global organized its first International Trip Seminar of the fiscal year, featuring HIRAKU-Global Researchers (HGRs) Dr. Fan Fan (5th cohort) and Dr. Kohei Hamamoto (6th cohort), both of Ehime University. The International Trip Seminar has been an important HIRAKU-Global institution since its inception in 2023, and features one or several HIRAKU-Global Researcher (HGR) speakers. It is not necessarily a forum for typical research presentations (although it could include aspects of such), but instead is a way for HGRs who have travelled abroad for research visits and/or conferences to share both their professional and practical experiences. Topics typically discussed include (but are not limited to) how one contacted the host researcher abroad, practical aspects or procedures for the visit (such as visas), accommodation and food at in the host country, and even activities with the host lab members, among others.

First, Dr. Hamamoto discussed his trips to Taiwan and Saudi Arabia, both of which were related to his work on tropical marine genetic diversity. The trip to Taiwan was for fieldwork, where Dr. Hamamoto collected various marine samples along Taiwanese coastal regions; he hopes to return to Taiwan in the future for more sample collection. Dr. Hamamoto¡¯s trip to Saudia Arabia was for the Corals, Coasts, and One Health conference held at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), where he presented his research on marine genetics and connected with colleagues from around the world in his field. The Red Sea, where KAUST is located nearby, actually contains a unique warm coral reef, which could be the target of future investigation.

Dr. Fan then spoke about his research trip to University of Malaya (UM) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he spent two months visiting the lab of Prof. Sameer Kumar, an expert on social networks. Dr. Fan began by explaining how he got in touch with Prof. Kumar about a possible visit¡ªspecifically at an in-person conference¡ªand also mentioned the practical challenges of the visit, including visa applications. At UM, Dr. Fan worked with Prof. Kumar to study agricultural marketing videos on Youtube, and specifically the social networking aspects. The presentation also included discussion on practical aspects of universities and research at UM (and universities in Malaysia). For example, Dr. Fan touched on the multicultural atmosphere of UM, living conditions such as food and weather, and even academic and cultural exchange activities that he participated in Malaysia.

HGRs have travelled to six of the seven continents for research trips (waiting for someone to go to Antarctica!), and the International Trip Seminar has covered five of those six continents. Overall, 9 HGRs attended the seminar, and we hope that this series continues with more interesting HGR adventures, paving the way for more junior HGRs to take inspiration and learn practical lessons for their own future international business travel.