We will post a report on the activities of student who received overseas travel support from the Integrated Initiative for Designing Future Society in 2024FY.
It seems that the overseas training program was a great opportunity for future research and career development.
Report for overseas training supported by Integrated Initiative for Designing Future Society
“Research activities at Canada – AAFC”
Saya Nakamura
Food Science Group
Graduate School of Bioresource and Bioenvironmental Sciences
Kyushu University
Activity for this training
From the end of September 2023 to early July 2024, I stayed in the Guelph Research and Development Center (GRDC), a research institute of the Canadian government’s Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), is located in Guelph, about an hour west of Toronto, Ontario, as a foreign researcher.
From April 28 to May 1, 2024, we participated in the annual conference of the American Oil Chemist’s Society (AOCS) held in Montreal, Canada. AOCS is a long-established academic society, celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2009. I also participated in an international conference (3rd International Symposium on Bioactive Peptides; ISBP) in September last year, but AOCS conference was a very large, and it was full of energy every day. As it is an oil chemistry society, the main topics are analysis methods, manufacturing, biotechnology, health, etc. related to fats, oils, surfactants, etc., but there were also active discussions about by-product proteins (peptides). Although I was unable to make a presentation at this conference, I was able to gain the latest knowledges on peptide research that is also relevant to my own research. Also, although it was within the framework of “oil,” it was good opportunity to learn about research in a variety of fields and develop a multifaceted perspective.
I studied the effective use of unused resources, continuing from last year, in Dr. Cao’s laboratory at the AAFC-Guelph Research and Development Center (GRDC). I think it was a meaningful research life where I learned a lot, as I had the opportunity to experiment with techniques and machines that I had no experience using, even though I understood the principles. With the help of the technical staff, I have completed most of the analysis and now just start to write a paper. In the future, we will submit new paper to an international journal as a result of our joint research with GRDC.
Achievements and future perspectives
As mentioned in the FY2023 activity report, I think that the greatest benefit gained through this activity is the “building of an international research network.” I was able to realize this when I participated in AOCS. At the AOCS symposium on peptides, I had the opportunity to meet and talk with some of the professors I had interacted with at the ISBP international conference in which I attended last September. Some professors, who I met last conference, remember me, and I felt that I was slowly building an international network. In my daily research activities, I have worked hard to communicate my ideas without hesitation, even though my English is not good, and I have strived to engage in research discussions and acquire new knowledge and skills. Although I could not feel any growth while studying abroad, after returning to Japan, I found it less difficult to communicate in English in research discussions and daily conversations with international students in my laboratory, and I received compliments on my pronunciation. I spent about nine months conducting research at a public research institution rather than at a university in abroad, which gave me a good opportunity to think about my future career development.
For personal activities, I observed the total solar eclipse that was seen in southern Ontario, Canada on April 8, 2024, and can watch the aurora borealis, which was thought to be difficult to observe in Guelph. These events were good opportunities to experience a different Canadian nature.
Through the knowledges and experiences gained through this study, I decide to become a researcher who can be active on the world stage and carry out world-class research.
These past nine months have been a very valuable experience in which I have grown both physically and mentally, as well as in my English skills. I would like to express my deep gratitude to Dr. Cao Rong of AAFC-GRDC, and all the staff at GRDC. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to Integrated Initiative for Designing Future Society for their generous support regarding my overseas travel during this extremely difficult period of weak yen.
