ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ

In the midst of the scorching Japanese summer heat and around the season of the Obon holiday (a festival honoring one¡¯s ancestors), HIRAKU-Global welcomed a new cohort of HIRAKU-Global Researchers (HGRs) by starting their time in the program with the FY2026 HIRAKU-Global Starter Course, held on August 10th online (Zoom). The Starter Course is an annual event which onboards a new HGR cohort, this year being the 7th cohort, into the program through program information sessions, self-introductions, and meet-and-greet with consortium mentors. It is often the first time each new cohort is able to meet each other as HGR colleagues virtually; however, holding such events online does have its advantages, as an HGR was still able to join from the UK while on a business trip (albeit early in the morning!).

As is customary, this year¡¯s Starter Course began with a greeting from ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ Executive Vice President (Research) Seiichi Miyazaki, chair of the HIRAKU-Global Operating Council. This was followed by an introduction of the HIRAKU-Global program by Tony Z. Jia, HIRAKU-Global Program Manager (PM), which also included a welcome message by ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ Professor (Special Designation) Carolin Funck, who is Executive Manager (for ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ) of the HIRAKU-Global Program. The PM specifically introduced the basic, core, and empowerment contents of the HIRAKU-Global researcher development strategy, which includes the Individual Development Plan (IDP), the Achievement Card (AC), the consortium mentorship system, and seminars and workshops for visionary and professional empowerment, among others. This was followed by a brief introduction of the contact points, staff, and leadership of the four HIRAKU-Global Universities¡ªEhime University, ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ, Tokushima University, and Yamaguchi University¡ªand then a short message from the HIRAKU-Global Office about practical aspects of the program, such as funding and PR. 

This year, we welcomed seven new HGRs from the four universities, with four hailing from ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ, and one from each partner university. These HGRs come from a wide range of backgrounds, spanning social science, medicine, engineering, and science, and each new HGR gave a short five-minute introductory presentation about their research interests, plans, and long-term goals. It is, of course, impossible to understand the entirety of each HGR¡¯s aspirations in just five minutes, but there is ample time for the HGRs to learn about and support each other through the HIRAKU-Global program¡¯s five year development period, such as through retreats, seminars, workshops, and other exchange opportunities.

After a short break, we then had a session where the six consortium mentors introduced themselves briefly through a five-minute presentation. Four mentors could attend and gave live presentations, while two mentors could not, and presented via pre-recorded video. We then set up several breakout rooms for each HGR to meet the mentors (in attendance) and the HIRAKU-Global Office directly as part of a meet-and-greet session. Both the mentor introductions and the meet-and-greet sessions gave the HGRs a sense of who the mentors are, and how the mentors could support the HGRs¡¯ careers.

Finally, consortium mentor Dr. Yoshifumi Nishimura closed the starter course with some words of wisdom from Dr. Louis Pasteur: ¡°Chance favors only the prepared mind¡±. He encouraged the HGRs to be prepared in all facets of their research, and if so, even if resources may be scarce currently, things will eventually fall in place.

Introducing the 7th HGR Cohort: 
Norikatsu Akizawa - Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ
Fukiko Ikehata - Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ
Kei Matsushima - Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ
Harunobu Saijo - Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, ÑÇÉ«ÊÓƵ
Haruka Takata - Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University
Jing Wu - Graduate School of Sciences and Technology for Innovation, Yamaguchi University
Youyue Zhang - Premier Institute for Advanced Studies, Geodynamics Research Center, Ehime University