Good environment for cross disciplinary communication by seeing other laboratories
DUONG Calvin
(Enrolled in January 2019 / Department of Computational Biology and Medical Sciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences)
WINGS-PES has opened the door for many fun and relevant opportunities for me during my post-graduate experience in The University of Tokyo.
With a focus on the topic of sustainability, the organization decided to begin early activities with acquainting members with each other’s labs in order to promote crosstalk between different disciplines. The lab touring experience has been exciting and is an experience that would be rare if I was not part of such an organization. Seeing how other laboratories operate and what other topics are being researched in the university has provided a good environment for cross disciplinary communication to occur.
One of the most pleasantly surprising bits is the flexibility of the organization itself. For example, the mandatory meetings that WINGS-PES students must attend known as “Salon of Excellence” are usually moderated by the students themselves. Scheduling and topics are usually dictated by students, with the audience being the professors and other program students. The professors are genuinely interested in the students’ research, and rarely display an intimidating presence. Instead, despite their different academic backgrounds and specialties, they ask thought provoking questions, and provide guidance.
