http://www.naist.jp/ NARA INSTITUTE of SCIENCE and TECHNOLOGY en NARA INSTITUTE of SCIENCE and TECHNOLOGY NARA INSTITUTE of SCIENCE and TECHNOLOGY NARA INSTITUTE of SCIENCE and TECHNOLOGY http://www.naist.jp/admission/goukakuhappyou25_e.html 2010-09-21T00:00:00 http://www.naist.jp/news/detail_e/topics/950/ On August 5th, NAIST was visited by Rector Bambang of Universitas Muhammadiyah (UM) Surakarta, Rector Suyatno of UM Hamka and Consul Yahya from the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia. Dean Da’i from the Faculty of Pharmacy of the UM Surakarta had studied at NAIST as a researcher, after which Vice Dean Kawaichi from the Graduate School of Biological Sciences traveled to Indonesia on several occastions to deliver lectures to UM Surakarta faculty members. The delegates were welcomed by NAIST President Isogai, Executive Director Shinmyo, Director Ogasawara of the Center for Frontier Science and Vice Dean Kawaichi. President Isogai summarized the thriving academic exchange between NAIST and Indonesian universities. Moreover, they exchanged ideas and information, while discussing ways of expanding research and student exchange between NAIST and UM. Afterwards, Associate Professor Fujikawa guided the delegates on a tour of the Graduate school of Information Science facilities, and Professor Daimon took them on a tour of the Graduate school of Materials Science facilities. The delegates completed their visit by having lunch with NAIST international students from Indonesia. 2010-08-11T00:00:00 http://www.naist.jp/admission/goukakuhappyou23_e.html 2010-07-21T00:00:00 http://www.naist.jp/admission/goukakuhappyou22_e.html 2010-07-20T00:00:00 http://www.naist.jp/news/detail_e/topics/924/ Vice Provost William B. Lacy, University of California, Davis (UCD) visited NAIST on June 19th. NAIST concluded an institution-level academic exchange agreement with UCD in April 2003, and has continued to promote exchanges in various fields. Moreover, NAIST has actively offered faculty and students research and study opportunities at UCD, such as the English Program for students and Staff Development program. NAIST has also accepted faculty members and students from UCD. Vice Provost Lacy was welcomed by President Isogai, Executive Director Shinmyou, Vice President Kakiuchi, and Dean Maki from the Graduate School of Biological Sciences. They exchanged information and promoted continuous exchanges. Afterwards, Vice President Kakiuchi and Dean Maki took Vice Provost Lacy to the Graduate School of Materials Science and the Botanical Greenhouses in the Graduate School of Biological Sciences to show him campus facilities. 2010-06-28T00:00:00 http://www.naist.jp/news/detail_e/topics/923/ Vice President Shang H. Hsu and Dean Jenh-Yih Juang of the College of Science, National Ciao Tung University（NCTU, Taiwan） visited NAIST on June 17th. The Graduate School of Materials Science concluded a department-level academic exchange agreement with the College of Science, NCTU in March, 2009. NAIST also concluded an institution-level academic exchange agreement with NCTU in May 2010, and the two universities have continued to promote exchanges in various fields. The delegates were welcomed by NAIST President Isogai and Vice President Kakiuchi, and Dean Tanihara of the Graduate School of Materials Science. They exchanged information and discussed ways of expanding research and student exchange between NAIST and NCTU. They also discussed the University Presidents Forum in September organized by NCTU. Afterwards, Vice President Hsu and Dean Juang visited the Graduate School of Materials Science. They had a meeting with faculty members for an autumn Joint Symposium and exchanged information for future collaboration. 2010-06-28T00:00:00 http://www.naist.jp/news/detail_e/topics/916/ A one-day excursion took place on Sunday, June 6 for international students to get to know each other, experience traditional Japanese culture, and learn about the history of Japan. The group of thirty-nine students first visited the Tanuki-mura Pottery Center in Shigaraki, an ancient center for pottery-making. They were able to see Tebineri pottery-making, and to create their own artwork with the advice of a specialist. They next visited Hikone Castle and learned about its historical background. The weather was ideal to appreciate the beautiful scenery of Lake Biwa from the top of the castle's Nishinomaru Sanju Turret. The last visit for this trip was to Nagahama city, where the students enjoyed walking around the area on the northeastern shore of Lake Biwa. Through this excursion, they deepened their knowledge of Japanese culture and history, and also developed good relationships with each other. The outing was valuable and successful, as seen from comments by the students that they were impressed with Japanese traditional culture. 2010-06-16T00:00:00 http://www.naist.jp/news/detail_e/topics/911/ This April, there was an incident involving the unintentional disposal of Living Modified Organisms (LMOs) without first inactivating them properly, in violation of NAIST’s regulations related to LMOs, which were enacted in accordance with Japanese laws governing biodiversity.(Act regarding the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biological Diversity by Regulating the Handling of Living Modified Organisms) NAIST received a strict warning from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science & Technology via its website today. As NAIST took immediate action when this accident was discovered, there was no possibility of diffusion of the LMOs outside campus. NAIST strongly requests that its students and researchers comply with any and all regulations related to LMOs. Furthermore, our university regards this recent case of noncompliance as extremely regrettable. NAIST has informed all faculty, students and staff of the incident and has taken measures to prevent such incidents in the future. ■MEXT’s website http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/houdou/22/06/1294774.htm ■E-mail to NAIST’s member http://www.naist.jp/news/pdfs/20100611_e.pdf 2010-06-11T00:00:00 http://www.naist.jp/news/detail_e/topics/908/ The delegation of social workers from Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan visited NAIST as part of a training program sponsored by the Foundation for the Welfare and　Education of the Asian People on May 31st. Since 1978, the Foundation has run this training program which is a study visit of Japan for the people involving in projects for orphans or single-parent families in Asian countries in order to deepen mutual understanding of each country’s welfare system. They were welcomed by President Isogai, who greeted them with a speech. Vice President Kidode introduced NAIST briefly. Afterwards, the members of the Robotics Laboratory introduced and demonstrated aspects of their research which could be applied to social welfare: an assistant device with Pneumatic Rubber Artificial Muscles, Actroid, a humanoid robot and an intelligent wheelchair which can be controlled by using both face direction and gaze direction. 2010-06-03T00:00:00 http://www.naist.jp/admission/mext_scholarship_e.html 2010-05-26T00:00:00 http://www.naist.jp/news/detail_e/topics/898/ Associate Prof. Tomohiro Shibata held a wedding ceremony on Sunday 16 May, 2010 with the I-Fairy robot leading it. Prof.Shibata and bride Satoko Inoue, who works at I-Fairy robot’s manufacturer Kokoro, decided to use the robot because robots had brought them together in the first place. Since their wedding was the first time a marriage had been conducted by a robot, it was reported in “The Japan Times” on May 18 and “The Daily Yomiuri” on 17 May, and was also featured by worldwide media including CBS and BBC. CBS website BBC website Telegraph UK website IEEE Spectrum website 2010-05-20T00:00:00 http://www.naist.jp/news/detail_e/topics/894/ On 14 April 2010, to mark the first anniversary of the opening of its Japan Office in Tokyo, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) held a two hour bi-national panel discussion entitled “Early Independence for Young Researchers in Germany and Japan”. As a panellist representing young Japanese researchers, Associate Prof. Shoji Komai discussed the following issues with other panelists, including Prof. Eckart Rühl of the Free University of Berlin: “Early Independence or Mentoring?”, “Are Young Group Leaders Forming the Faculties of Tomorrow?” and “What Role Should Government and Funding Organizations Play in the Future?” NAIST Vice president Kiyomi Kakiuchi also attended the ceremony on behalf of President Isogai. After welcome remarks by Director of the DFG Office Japan Dr. Iris Wieczorek, German Ambassador to Tokyo Dr. Volker Stanzel offered a few opening remarks. Executive Member of the Council for Science and Technology Policy, Government of Japan Prof. Tasuku Honjo then delivered the keynote speech. More than 140 representatives from the science and science-policy community in Japan attended the event. 2010-05-17T00:00:00 http://www.naist.jp/news/detail_e/topics/887/ Director of Culture and Education Department at Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, Mr. Kan Cho Ko visited NAIST on Wednesday, April 21. He was welcomed by Executive Director Shinmyo and Graduate School of Materials Science Professor Masuhara. They exchanged information and discussed ways of expanding research and student exchange between NAIST and Taiwanese universities. Afterwards, Mr. Ko visited the Hamano Junichi Laboratory of Laser Bio/Nano Science in the Graduate School of Materials Science and Professor Masuhara and Associate Professor Sugiyama introduced their current research. 2010-04-30T00:00:00 http://www.naist.jp/news/detail_e/topics/876/ The 2010 Entrance Ceremony took place in Millennium Hall on April 5. NAIST accepts not only students with a conventional academic background but also those with previous working experience as researchers and engineers, regardless of their nationalities or areas of previous study. Successful candidates will have a clear vision of the future and high aims, along with a strong interest and motivation in conducting research in their chosen areas. We welcomed 424 new students at the ceremony. The Governor of Nara Prefecture, Mr. Arai, the Mayor of Ikoma City, Mr. Yamashita, the Director of the International Institute for Advanced Studies, Dr. Oike and the Executive Director of the Foundation for Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Mr. Fukumori attended as guests and wished the new students success in their new life. A traditional Noh play was also performed at the ceremony. 2010-04-12T00:00:00 http://www.naist.jp/news/detail_e/topics/873/ On March 25, 2010, the Japanese government released its first-ever six-year assessment of national university standards and achievements. The results served as a measuring stick in allocating 1.6 billion yen ($17.4 million) in merit-based subsidies for fiscal 2010. NAIST ranked first overall among the 86 Japanese national universities, which were evaluated in four areas: education standards, research standards, research and education achievements and management standards. NAIST’s top ranking was reported on the front page of Asahi Shimbun, a leading newspaper in Japan, and was featured in a variety of other newspapers and magazines. You can see a ranking list of the top 10 universities on the front page of the March 25th, 2010, issue of Asahi Shimbun, and a ranking list of all national universities is available on page 37 of the same issue. Top 10 Japanese National Universities 1. NAIST 2. Shiga University of Medical Science 3. Hamamatsu University School of Medicine 4. Tokyo Institute of Technology 5. Ochanomizu University 6. The University of Tokyo 7. University of Fukui 8. Tokyo Medical and Dental University 9. Tokyo University of Foreign Studies 10. Kyoto University 2010-04-07T00:00:00 http://www.naist.jp/news/detail_e/topics/865/ NAIST concluded an academic exchange agreement on March 8 with Kasetsart University in Thailand, to promote further cooperation for education and research. NAIST also renewed an academic exchange agreement on March 9 with Mahidol University in Thailand. As Kasetsart University is well noted for advanced research and has a number of outstanding students, NAIST is promoting a close relationship in education and research with Kasetsart University. The agreement with Kasetsart University was made with the intention of the further promotion of faculty and student exchange, globalization at NAIST, and training international scientific personnel. An academic exchange agreement with Mahidol University was renewed, based on the success of previous exchanges. NAIST intends to promote faculty and student exchange and to increase the number of students from Mahidol University studying at NAIST. Executive Director Shinmyo traveled to Thailand to represent NAIST at the signing ceremony at Kasetsart University and exchanged contracts with President Vudtechai Kapilakanchan. He also exchanged contracts at Mahidol University. 2010-03-23T00:00:00 http://www.naist.jp/admission/goukakuhappyou17_e.html 2010-03-12T00:00:00 http://www.naist.jp/news/detail_e/topics/851/ The Consul General of France in Kyoto, Mr. Philippe Janvier-Kamiyama, and 'his Secretary, Mr. Hiroshi Kitagawa visited NAIST on Monday, March 8. They were welcomed by President Isogai and Executive Director Sawada, and both parties exchanged information and opinions for the future promotion of research and student exchanges. Afterwards, the visitors were given a tour of the Internet Engineering Laboratory in the Graduate School of Information Science, and an overview of the lab's current research by Professor Yamaguchi. Mr. Gregory Blanc, a French doctoral student in the lab, described his experiences and research at NAIST. The visitors also toured the Laboratory of Cell Biotechnology in the Graduate School of Biological Sciences, where Professor Takagi introduced his current research to them. 2010-03-11T00:00:00 http://www.naist.jp/news/detail_e/topics/845/ Mr. Worin Sukcharoen, Minister -Counselor (Education), from the Royal Thai Embassy, Tokyo visited NAIST on February 9. Mr. Sukcharoen is in charge of education on behalf of the Thai Government for both Thai students in Japan and prospective students in Thailand who hope to study in Japan. The objective of his visit was to exchange opinions on the future acceptance of students from Thailand. An explanation of the COE program in the Graduate School of Biological Sciences was also provided to Mr. Sukcharoen by Dean Maki and Prof. Hashimoto. Following this, a tour of each Graduate School was conducted and lastly, a meeting was held with students from Thailand. This visit was a success and will further the future promotion of exchanges between NAIST and Thailand. 2010-02-26T00:00:00 http://www.naist.jp/admission/goukakuhappyou16_e.html 2010-02-26T00:00:00