公開日 2025年05月26日
On Wednesday, May 21, 2025, Mr. Kanji Fujiki, Director-General of the Sakura Science Exchange Program (SSP), and Mr. Takashi Konishi, Counselor of SSP, visited Shimane university and met with President Otani and other officials.
The Japan Science and Technology Agency(JST) launched the "Indian Young Researchers Invitation Program" last year to strengthen collaboration with India, a country with rapidly growing research capabilities that are producing outstanding young researchers. This program supports research stays in Japan for Indian graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, aiming to facilitate joint research supervision, promote future degree acquisition, encourage co-authored publications, and enhance global knowledge exchange. The program is set for full-scale implementation from the 2025 academic year, with the 2024 selections serving as a feasibility study.
At our university, Assoc. Prof. Hemanth Noothalapati from the Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences was selected for an exchange project. As part of this program, a doctoral student from the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH) has been invited for six months, from April to September, to conduct joint research in Prof. Noothalapati’s laboratory. Additionally, in July, Prof. Panda, the key representative from IITH, will visit our university to discuss the advancement of joint research supervision between Japan and India.
During the meeting, Director-General Fujiki provided an overview of the program and its implementation status to President Hiroki Otani, Prof. Yoshimi Kataoka, Vice President for Promotion of Globalization, and Prof. Noothalapati. It was reported that 55 researchers across 45 selected projects-including Prof. Noothalapati’s exchange plan-were invited to Japan in 2024, and an expansion to 300 researchers is planned for 2025.
Our university has been actively promoting academic exchange with India in recent years. Through this program, we aim to invite more graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, further strengthening research collaboration between Japan and India and contributing to global academic endeavors.
Following the meeting, a hearing was conducted on the implementation of Prof. Noothalapati’s exchange project. During the discussion, he shared insights on challenges and potential improvements for future progress.
Moving forward, our university remains committed to expanding international research collaboration, particularly with India, and fostering research talent on a global scale.
▲From left：Mr. Kanji Fujiki, Director-General of SSP, Mr. Takashi Konishi, Counselor of SSP, Assoc. Prof. Hemanth Noothalapati, Vice President Yoshimi Kataoka, President Hiroki Otani
▲In front of Statue of Dr. Raman
From left：Mr. Takashi Konishi, Assoc. Prof. Hemanth Noothalapati, Ms. Pooja Dutta(IITH PhD), Mr. Kanji Fujiki,
