4th WINGS-PES Salon was held.
Report by:
YASUZAWA Yosuke, Master’s year 2
Details
- Date/Time: Wednesday, July 31, 2019 from 10:00 12:30
- Place: Science Square Tsukuba and Honda laboratory, Tsukuba Central
The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology - Department: Computational Biology and Medical Science
Contents
First, we visited the Science Square Tsukuba and provided an overview of AIST’s research activities. Next, Dr. Honda and I introduced AIST and our research. Then, we toured our laboratory. Finally, we held a discussion based on these experiences.
Visiting Science Square 10:00-10:30
AIST is one of the largest public research institutions doing research in many areas including the environment, information,
engineering and life science. This visit was for learning about AIST’s research activities.
Introducing AIST and Honda Lab ・ Touring Laboratory 10:35-11: 45
We made presentations about AIST and Honda lab. Dr. Honda explained AIST research and the Honda lab. I explained Honda lab and biochemistry research. Later, we toured our laboratory. Our laboratory’s research target is protein and biopharmaceutical, so we have a lot of equipment for basic biochemistry and protein purification and assay. I provided short explanations about each of these machines.
Discussion 11:40-12:30
In the discussion part, there were many questions about AIST and the differences in
research with other universities. There were also many questions about my research, so
we discussed research details and how to proceed with research.
Impressions
Introducing my research to experts from different fields for the first time provided fresh stimulation. Questions about the mechanism of many machines and how to proceed with my research encouraged me to reconsider the principle of experimental equipment and my way of thinking. For example, how to measure protein concentration and protein protein interaction.
In the discussion, there were many questions about the features of AIST and the merits of researching at AIST. I mainly answered from procedural perspective and I could not tell the differences that can be only recognized through actual research at AIST After the salon, I reconsidered the benefits for Honda lab to be a part of AIST. Each researcher in Honda lab has their own research theme and students can proceed with the ir research as AIST researcher. Further, students can learn the professional way of research. I think this is the advantage for the students in Honda Lab.
In the first presentation, I did not mention my research, and did not share the details of
my research. I will reflect this point in the further discussion about my research. What
was beneficial from the presentation is that I had a meaningful discussion with the
professors and received many suggestions for my future research, such as collaborative
research with bioinformaticians or the way of evolving peptide sequences
This salon of excellence was a good chance to view my research objectively and to rethink the strengths of AISTs research. I received various suggestions and stimuli this time, and I will use them to make my research more useful for both science and society.