Message from NIG-INTERN 2016

The 10th Summer Research Program for Undergraduates, NIGINTERN 2016, was carried out in July. 6 selected participants enjoyed 4 weeks research internship program at their host laboratories.

Members

• Leela Manohar Chinni

  

  From:Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati ,India
  Stayed at:Experimental Farm / Nonomura Laboratory

  The journey of my internship began 3 months earlier when I received the acceptance mail from the NIG. I was excited and started to dream about the NIGINTERN program. Education Team of NIG kept updating me regarding the internship, process to visit Japan and they are very helpful.

  Finally, the day has come to make my dreams true. we (I and 2 co-interns) landed at Narita and we were excited to travel on Shinkansen (Japanese bullet train). After reaching NIG, the Education Team welcomed us and introduced to our respective laboratory PI. I was greeted cheerfully by my lab. Nonomura sensei introduced me to the lab members and his lab is working on ‘Molecular cytogenetics of plant germ-cell development. Working with plants was completely new to me and I was tensed about my project but Tsuda-sensei and the other lab members helped me throughout the end of the project. 4 – week was a short duration of time and I was worried that I may not complete it in the given duration but surprisingly I made it. During my internship, I learnt many new techniques and came across different instruments in the lab. Besides the laboratory work, we had Japanese language class which was fun and learnt some Japanese words. The most interesting thing during the program was lab visiting. We visited many labs and most of them are interesting and good.

  Apart from the wonderful time in the lab, we visited many places across Mishima and the trip to Tokyo was awesome. We enjoyed a lot during the Tokyo trip and the Japanese people are kind, humble and helpful. On the last day of our internship, we had a small dinner party where everyone cooked some delicious food and later had some cool fireworks. Throughout the internship program, each and every second was enjoyable and memorable.

  Being a vegetarian, it’s tough to live in Japan but the guest house has a well-equipped kitchen which helped me to cook food. I also met many graduate students of NIG, who are friendly and they gave good suggestions about my future researcher life.

  ‘Arigatou gozaimashita’ to all the co-interns, members of NIG for making my internship, become a memorable part of my life.

• Vinca Yadav

  

  From:Centre for Human Genetics,India
  Stayed at:Division of Ecological Genetics / Kitano Laboratory

  They say that Japan is a really nice country with really nice people, but I don’t think it is emphasised enough! My experience at NIG was a wonderful one, right through the first to the last day. The general affairs team ensured I had all the necessary information regarding how to get to NIG from the Narita international airport, general rules and regulations of NIG, nearby places, maps of NIG and Mishima, and so forth. I never had to look anything up on my own to get on with my daily life at NIG. My stay in the guesthouse was very comfortable, and I would ride a bicycle to go to the market or other nearby places.

  My lab members were warm and welcoming and extremely helpful, as were PhD students and post-docs from other labs. My mentor, Kitano-sensei, guided me through all my experiments personally, and always made time to discuss the results thoroughly with me. My experimental plan was also streamlined by him in an organised manner, and was pragmatic for the length of the NIGINTERN 2016 programme. I worked toward establishing the tissue-distribution patterns of certain genes that could contribute to adaptive radiation in sticklebacks. During my work presentation at the end of NIGINTERN 2016, I received valuable feedback about alternative strategies that I could have adopted to validate certain claims.

  In addition to work in the lab, I made sure I made the most of my weekends! Along with the other interns, I went to many places in and around Mishima and Tokyo. I also watched the firework display at Atami beach, which was compellingly beautiful. The highlight of all my trips outside of NIG was that I climbed to the Mount Fuji summit!

  Apart from work and trips, thoroughly enjoyable were the classes in Japanese by Miyauchi-sensei. She’s easily one of the kindest and best language teachers I’ve ever met. Also, this review would be incomplete if I didn’t mention the sweet lady at the cafeteria, who always made sure I ate properly whenever I went there.

  All in all, I would highly recommend students to apply for this programme, as it is a whole new experience in multiple dimensions.

• Anjana Sundarrajan

  

  From:Manipal University,India
  Stayed at:Multicellular Organization Laboratory / Sawa Laboratory

  Words wouldn’t do the justice of describing my experience in Japan. Every step of the way, from receiving the acceptance mail till the day we left NIG, we were taken care of. The administrative office staff welcomed us cordially on our first day. After that I was greeted by my lab members. (Sawa group)

  Sawa sensei and the other scientists in the lab were extremely helpful throughout my stay. They explained me my work and helped me understand it better. The lab is doing some exceptional work in asymmetric cell division. I am really happy that I got to be a part of it. I was very excited to have a project on my own. It’s always fun to work independently. The lab visits and seminars provided us insights from other fields.The Japanese classes were very helpful. Miyouchi sensei made learning Japanese easy and fun.

  I have got some great friends through this internship. We enjoyed the weekend trips to Tokyo, Yokohoma,etc… We had an amazing time seeing around the city and travelling to new places. Being a vegetarian, my choices of Japanese food were limited. Nevertheless, I absolutely enjoyed the food in the Japanese vegetarian restaurant where my lab members took me for the farewell party. Meeting people from diverse cultural backgrounds was an invaluable experience.

  This internship has helped me understand research better; it has been a great learning platform. Also, I finally got to experience Japanese culture which I have always been a great fan of. It will be very nice if NIG could extend the period of stay so that we can learn more. I take immense pleasure in thanking everybody, who has made this possible. I can’t thank you enough. As I said, it’s difficult to put an entire month in words. It was a summer well spent.

• Aisha Yesbolatova

  

  From:Nazarbayev University,Kazakhstan
  Stayed at:Division of Molecular Cell Engineering / Kanemaki Laboratory

  I was so happy to receive an acceptance letter for the NIGINTERN 2016 program! I want to thank the admission committee for selecting me and my professors at Nazarbayev Univeristy for preparing me to carry out research.

  From the very beginning, even prior my coming to Japan, I had been getting support from the NIG team and had started the discussion of my project with Kanemaki-sensei, the head of my host laboratory. When I came to NIG, everyone was very kind and helpful to me.

  I am immensely grateful to all members of my host lab. Kanemaki-sensei is truly a master. Not only he introduced a concept of the AID (auxin-inducible degron) system to me but revealed the future perspectives of the technology itself and the science in general. It was fascinating to learn new techniques and equipment, plan and design experiments and obtain unexpected results under the wise guidance of Natsume-san. Kanehara-san was always there to explain a step in a procedure or help me with some technique. After the initial introduction to human cell culture and protein analysis, I was conducting the project to improve the AID system. Because of their constant support, I was able to experience what it is to be a scientist.

  I was impressed by the variety of research conducted at the NIG laboratories, the experimental farm and DNA Data Bank of Japan that we attended during our lab visits and seminars.

  But NIGINTERN program is so much more than just research experience. Especially, for me, for whom visiting Japan was a long-awaited cherished dream.

  I have become friends with the fellow interns, who came from different parts of the world, India, UK, Taiwan. We shared so many funny and precious moments together spending our weekends cycling around Mishima, exploring Tokyo, Izu, and climbing Fuji-san. I was enjoying discussions with the NIG professors and students on various topics. I appreciate the genuine interest in my home country expressed by so many people in Japan.

  Once a week we had a Japanese lesson with Miyauchi-sensei who helped us say some simple phrases and with whom we had vivid discussions. The lessons, in addition to everyday listening to people speaking in Japanese, inspired me to learn this beautiful language.

  I loved the majestic nature of Japan. I was amazed by the enigmatic and tranquil temples and shrines. I highly regard the ordered lifestyle of Japanese people, their kindness and willingness to help. For a person fascinated by Japanese culture like me, being able to experience all this was invaluable.

• Ly Jane Phea

  

  From:University of Cambridge,United Kingdom
  Stayed at:Mammalian Development Laboratory / Saga Laboratory

  I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to NIG for giving me the opportunity to be a part of the NIGInternship program. Throughout this one month, I was placed in Professor Yumiko Saga’s lab, under the guidance of Zhousan.

  I worked closely with Zhousan to uncover the processes underlying mouse somitogenesis, and also learnt about various other techniques, including mouse dissection and ES cell aggregation for the production of chimeric mice from other members of the lab. Everyone in the lab were really patient and helpful as were everyone else at NIG, and before long, I felt as if I was part of a big family.

  “Science is a way of thinking more than it is a body of knowledge” Carl Sagan This internship was also an enlightening experience in that I was granted opportunities to visit other laboratories, attend research seminars presented by leading experts in their fields, as well as attend journal clubs and progress meetings organized by my lab. Through events such as these, I was exposed to other scientists’ thought processes, the way they plan, execute and interpret their experiments to produce meaningful data this will help to sculpt my mind closer towards that of an ideal scientist. I also hope to someday embody the tenacity and passion of these inspiring individuals.

  Mishima, where NIG is located, is an idyllic place, brimming with the beauty of nature rice fields and sakura trees alongside a magnificent view of Mt. Fuji. I managed to squeeze in weekend trips to Kyoto, Yamanakajo, Izu Fruit Park etc. with the other interns, as we lived by the “work hard, play hard” policy. We were also lucky enough to participate in the Toro Nagashi (paper lantern festival), where we witnessed the beautiful paper lanterns floating along Sakuragawa, to guide the spirits of the ancestors back to the other world, where they belonged.

  Japanese lessons with the delightful Miyauchisensei were fun, providing a weekly diversion from the hustle and bustle of the lab. Suffice to say, this internship was a fruitful experience, where I got to immerse in Japanese hospitality, culture and the beauty of its lands.

  Sayounara, Japan. Till we meet again.

• Chun-Hsuan Jason Lo

  

  From:National Taiwan University（NTU),Taiwan
  Stayed at:Division of Human Genetics / Inoue Laboratory

  It is my glory to do a research in National institute of Genetic, Japan. Because there are many outstanding scientist over there. In Professor Ituro Inoue’s laboratory I have learnt many cutting edge technology about Next generation sequencing, which can rapidly screen out a person’s or organism’s genome.This technology can also help the physician find out whether the subject is in the risk of getting some rare disease. And it might be applied to preventive and clinical medicine extensively in the near future. Among the four weeks in NIG, I learnt how scientist analyze the big data of human gene sequence, how to use the supercomputer to refine the raw data, and how to interpret the results in a scientific way.

  Besides, NIG provided many Japan language classes. During the classes, I learnt to speak some simple Japanese sentences, which helped me a lot. Especially when I traveled in Japan, I those sentence became very useful. During the intern period, NIG also provided intern students many chances to visit different laboratory in NIG. And all the laboratories are well equipped to do excellent experiments, and the professors are also industries and full knowledge. However, the DDBJ impressed me the most, because it provides a huge data base of human gene sequence of East Asia people and the high performance super computers. In the weekdays, I also joined the study group with the other students in my laboratory. We discussed some statistics and probability in a mathematical way, which might be applied to the algorithm of aligning the reads, identifying a mutation, and the allele frequency of mutate gene. And there were also some workshops, which showed us how to present the experiment results and scientific conclusion in a smart way.

  In the weekends, I enjoy Japan’s scenery and culture very much. And the life is very colorful over there. I hang around the parks and shrines around Mishima after the classes. And I also traveled to Tokyo with other intern students, going to Atami to see beautiful fireworks with friends, trying the conveyor belt Sushi and Soba noodles with the members in my laboratory, visiting many ancient sites in Kyoto, Osaka and Nara during the long weekend, and taking the trains to hang around Izu, where there are many forest, hotspots, and amazing scenery. In the last week, I also have a special experience of climbing the Fuji Mountain. Japan is really beautiful and I enjoyed my life in NIG very much. I hope that one day I can go back to NIG. It’s really a good place for the scientists to do research and enjoy the life.