Author: JSPS Washington Office

JSPS Washington Office participated in the 2023 AAAS annual meeting during March 2-5 at the Washington, DC Convention Center. The JSPS Washington Office booth was set at the AAAS Expo, we explained JSPS International collaborate programs, International Fellowship programs and the World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI).

This time, 3 Alumni members, Dr. Wade Sick, Dr. Samiul Alam and Dr. Stephanie Rankin-Turner, joined our booth, and they talked about their research experiences in Japan to the visitors.

Also, Dr. Peter Agre, 2003 Nobel Laureates in Chemistry, Bloomberg Distinguished  Professor at Johns Hopkins University, visited our booth, and listened to our explanations, in particular, HOPE MEETINGS with Nobel Laureates and Nobel Prize Dialogue.

The next AAAS annual meeting will be held in Denver, CO, February 15-17, 2024, as the meeting theme is “Toward Science Without Walls”. We would appreciate it if alumni members near Denver could support us. If you are interested in, please contact to was-info@overseas.jsps.go.jp.

The JSPS Headquarters have been opened the call for Nominations of 2023 (39th) International Prize for Biology.

The International Prize for Biology is a commemorative prize to celebrate the sixty-year reign of Emperor Showa and his longtime devotion to biological research. It also pays tribute to the Emperor Emeritus, who has striven for many years to advance the study of gobioid fish taxonomy while contributing continuously to the developing of this prize.

Based on nominations gathered from around the world, the Prize is awarded annually to one researcher who has made an outstanding contribution to make advance in biological sciences.

The Prize consists of a medal and an award of 10-million yen. The award ceremony is held in the presence of Their Imperial Highnesses Crown Prince and Crown Princess Akishino. In conjunction with the ceremony, a commemorative symposium is also held and the Prize recipient is asked to attend both of these events.

The research field of this year’s Prize is “Biology of Genomes.”
In this regard, we would like to invite you to nominate a recipient for the 2023 Prize. Please visit the Prize webpage at https://www.jsps.go.jp/english/e-biol/nomination.html, download the nomination format, type the necessary information in English and send them to the secretariat by e-nomination form.

Research field of the 2023 Prize: Biology of Genomes
Deadline: April 14, 2023

Please find details about the Prize at http://www.jsps.go.jp/english/e-biol

Thanking you for your kind cooperation and we look forward to receiving an excellent nomination from you.

Sincerely yours,

Secretariat of the Committee on the International Prize for Biology
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Email: ip-biology@jsps.go.jp

JSPS Information Session was held on Friday, January 20, 2023, hosted by JSPS Washington Office and the Science Diplomacy Committee, Johns Hopkins University.

The info session consisted of 2 parts, one was JSPS info session, the other was a panel discussion by 4 Alumni members at JHU.

Dr. Kit Bowen, Dr. N. Peter Armitage, Dr. Stephanie Rankin-Turner and Dr. Saed Abbasi introduced their research experiences in Japan. In particular, they talked about the booklet “Life in Japan”, called “Survival Book” at the discussion, which all fellows received after starting their fellowship in Japan. The discussion became animated because it sounded like the booklet helped them with their daily life in Japan.

Also, Dr. Kit Bowen and Dr. N. Peter Armitage mentioned that they have been supervisors for Japanese students. It was evidence that the mutual exchange of researchers between the U.S. and Japan is continuing after their fellowship.

Mr. Taichi Kaneshiro, the Education Counsellor at the Embassy of Japan in the USA, joined this info session, he introduced “Study Abroad in Japan” for graduate students.

If any alumni members are interested in helping us host the Information Sessions in the future, please contact the JSPS Washington Office.

E-mail：was-info@overseas.jsps.go.jp

Since travel and face-to-face exchanges of researchers have been on the decline after the pandemic of the past 2 years, we would like to ask the former JSPS Fellowship awardees to share their experiences with the Alumni members, so that the members will be reminded of the importance of personal exchanges for the sciences, as well as for enriching academic lives. Furthermore, we aim to revitalize the US and Canada JSPS Alumni Association by the communication among participants of this event.

[Date & Time]
Wednesday, February 15, 2023, 6:00 pm-7:30 pm (EST)

[Style]
Online (Zoom)

[Time Schedule and Speakers]

Time (EST)	Items	Speaker etc.
6:00-6:05	Greeting	MC: Dr. Wade Sisk, U.S. Department of Energy, US and Canada JSPS Alumni Association Capitol Region Chapter
6:05-6:20	Story ① (Japanese History)	Dr. Alexander Robert Bay, Chapman University
6:20-6:35	Story ② (Biology)	Dr. Stephane Aris-Brosou,   University of Ottawa
6:35-6:50	Story ③ (Horticulture)	Dr. Genhua Niu, Texas A&M University
6:50-7:00	Q&A	3 speakers / JSPS Washington Office
7:00-7:30	Networking (Free conversation)	All participants

[Register Here]
https://sh.jsps.go.jp/uscan-aa0215

[Contact]
JSPS Washington Office
Email: us-canada-alumni@overseas.jsps.go.jp

We are pleased to inform you that JSPS Washington office is pleased to announce JSPS US and Canada AA Seminar organized by Dr. Fred Ariel Hernandez, Disability Studies at UCLA, as follows. This seminar will present a public lecture and JSPS Info Session. The lecture will focus on Japan’s history of school sports post-1945, and how changes in disability rights in Japan have impacted access to sports for youth with disabilities, and views on the future from recent changes. Also, the aim of JSPS Info Session is to introduce JSPS fellowship programs to doctoral and postdoctoral researchers in overseas, as well as promote academic collaboration between the US and Japan. It would be a great opportunity to learn about recent JSPS activities and hear the voices of other alumni members/ former fellows.

If you are interested, please visit the venue in-person / online! To register, please check here. We warmly welcome your participation.

Date: November 16, 2022, 5pm – 7:30pm (PST)

Venue: UCLA Hall of Fame Press Room / Online

Title: Sports are for Everybody: Histories of Extracurricular Athletics and Disability Inclusion in Japan and US

Presenters: Dr. Atsushi Nakazawa (Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan)
                         Dr. Karen Nakamura (UC Berkeley)

Moderator: Dr. Fred Ariel Hernandez (UCLA/UCI)

URL:  https://dslabs.ucla.edu/events/sports-are-for-everybody/

Now accepting applications! Application deadline is January 31, 2023.

For detailed application instructions, eligibility restrictions, and terms of awards, please see the Pre/Postdoctoral Short-Term Fellowship web page.

JSPS Information Session was held on Thursday, October 6, and Friday, October 7, 2022, hosted by JSPS Washington Office and Clemson University.

On October 6, 2 types of Info Session were held. One was for Faculty members about the collaborative research program and invitational fellowship program, the other was for Pre/Post-doc students for the Postdoctoral Fellowship program. On October 7, 3 faculty members, Dr. Jiro Nagatomi, Dr. Kyle S. Brinkman and Dr. Jianhua Tong at Clemson University, joined and had a panel discussion about their research experiences in Japan under JSPS support.

The participants had some questions about Fellowship programs. JSPS Washington Office thought that through this opportunity, we have been able to publicize our programs better and more widely to many researchers.

If any alumni members are interested in helping us host the Information Sessions in the near future, please contact JSPS Washington Office.

E-mail：was-info@overseas.jsps.go.jp

The 25th “Science in Japan” Forum was held on Friday, September 9, 2022, hosted by JSPS Washington Office and co-sponsored by US and Canada JSPS Alumni Association.

You can see the detailed report here.

The JSPS Washington Office is pleased to announce the application call for the 2022 year JSPS US and Canada Alumni Association Seminar Program. This program was established for the members of the US and Canada JSPS Alumni Association to support academic seminars organized by Association members to promote the objectives of the Association.

We are now accepting proposals for seminars to be held between October 2022 and February 2023.

The deadline for application materials to be received by the JSPS Washington Office is June 30, 2022.

For more information, including instructions about the submission process, please visit the JSPS US and Canada AA Seminar Program Application Procedure web page.

In April 2022, 4 International Program Associates have arrived at JSPS Washington Office. We look forward to seeing alumni members at some seminars and events.

• Mr. Takefumi Yamaguchi, in charge of Science in Japan Forum and AAAS, from University of Tsukuba
• Ms. Yumi Sakai, in charge of Alumni Association and BRIDGE Fellowship, from Kansai University
• Ms. Yuki Kihara, in charge of JSPS-NIH Forum and JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship, from the University of Tokyo
• Ms. Hiroko Otsuka, in charge of The Japan-US Science Forum in Boston and JSPS Bridge Award, from Hiroshima University