On May 22, 69 high school students from India and five other Asian countries visited Sophia University as part of the SAKURA SCIENCE High School Program of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) and participated in laboratory tours and mock lectures at the Faculty of Science and Technology.
The program aims to contribute to the promotion of science and technology of Japan and to foster talented foreign researchers in great demand by Japanese universities, research institutes, and corporations. JST invites outstanding high school students selected from various countries to Japan and conducts a wide range of exchange programs. This visit to Japan was made possible through cooperation between Sophia University and JST.
Sixty-nine high school students from India, Korea, Thailand, Brunei, and Kyrgyzstan visited our university. All lab tours and mock lectures were conducted in English at the Faculty of Science and Technology.
The Faculty of Science and Technology offers the “Green Science Program” and the “Green Engineering Program” where all classes, examinations, reports, research guidance, and thesis writing are conducted in English, in order for international students and Japanese students to study together and tackle environmental issues on a global scale.
Before the lab tour, Professor Jiro Kondo of the Department of Materials and Life Science (Chair of the Science and Technology English Course Administration Committee) introduced three departments: the Department of Materials and Life Science, the Department of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the Department of Information and Communication Science, offering integrated studies of interrelated disciplines in addition to the English course, which is a unique feature of the Faculty of Science and Technology. Furthermore, a current student of the Green Science Program gave a detailed introduction about the English course, as well as her life in Japan, including campus life, at the end of the session.
During the lab tour that followed, faculty members and students welcomed the high school students to their laboratories, where they introduced their daily research activities, showed them experimental apparatuses and instruments, and demonstrated how to use them. Sophia students responded attentively to questions from those high school students, and at the end of the tour, a photo session took place in some labs.
In a mock lecture titled “Current Status and the Future Possibilities of AI” by Professor Tad Gonsalves of the Department of Information and Communication Science, numerous questions were asked by highly motivated students with enthusiasm and curiosity.
The event concluded with speeches from two representatives of the high school students thanking the group for providing them with this valuable experience.
Regarding this visit to the high school students, Professor Kondo commented, ” I was impressed by the fact that the high school students were so enthusiastic about science. After the lab tour, they shared details of what they have seen with peers with sparkle in their eyes. I think the day was also a great opportunity for the faculty members and the students involved to feel the joy of fostering the next generation of global talent by igniting the curiosity of young students through the findings of their daily research. “