Message from NIG-INTERN 2017

The 11th summer research program for undergraduates,NIGINTERN 2017, was carried out from July to August. Seven selected participants enjoyed a 6 week-research internship at their host laboratories.

Members

Aleksandr Korotaev
From:Saint-Petersburg State University, Russia
Stayed at:Biological Macromolecules Laboratory / Maeshima Group
I dreamed about Japan since my high school and I could not even imagine that someday my dreams become true. After receiving a letter with “We are glad to invite you as a 6-week intern of this program” I was very happy and excited.
I joined Maeshima Lab – Biological Macromolecules Laboratory that works on organization of DNA in cell nucleus. This field of science was not familiar for me but I decided to choose this lab because I want to broaden my knowledge. I performed three small projects connected with microscopy visualization of chromatin and RNA polymerase II. Under the control of my supervisors I learnt new techniques, used modern microscopy equipment and remembered programming. New experience that I have got was really helpful for me and I finally realized that I want to do science and do it in place like National Institute of Genetics.
Apart from laboratory and experiments I also had little time for vacation and sightseeing with other intern students and my lab mates who helped me become familiar with Japanese food, history and life. I wish I had more time for lab experiments and traveling!
I would like to thank all people who helped me to take part in NIGINTERN 2017 and all Maeshima laboratory members for their help and patience. I hope they will remember me and someday I will be able to meet them again.
Japan is not an easy country, its culture and lifestyle need a lot of time for understanding. One reason is language, another is original history taking place on a small distant island. However, there is one certain thing I understood – Japan is unique country and someday I would like to return.
Sharlyn Mae Buendia Chua
From:University of Santo Tomas, Philippines
Stayed at:Division of Symbiosis and Cell Evolution / Miyagishima Group
The experience of flying out of my country alone was a mixture of nervousness and excitement. Nervous because I am going to a country with no single person I know and excited because of the opportunity this experience will bring me. It was never hard to contact the institute for my inquiries and needs through email. They assisted me from the acceptance email to the time I went back home so “maraming salamat po (“thanks very much” in Tagalog)” to the NIG General Affairs Team!
Coming from a third-world country which is greatly lagging in research and technology, I really appreciate this experience of being able to use high-end instruments, attend seminars of different topics, visit different laboratories and communicate with the best professors in all fields of research. I was successfully able to report my presentation with the help of my ever-jolly sensei, Dr. Miyagishima, and the person who really got my back throughout my stay, Ms. Lin Wei Jong. I am over satisfied with the knowledge and lab techniques they shared to me. They really guided me step-by-step about the research. One favorite thing I learned in my lab is the power of asking. They never pressured me to get everything at once and they were always open for questions and clarifications.
All lab members in my team were all welcoming. My favorite moments are probably when I got to talk to them every lunch. It’s the time where most of us are in one room talking about random things and laughing about almost everything. They also prepared parties for me: sushi welcome party, ramen dinner, Takoyaki party and Farewell/Birthday party. Each were special and remarkable to my heart. Throughout the program, I became friends too with other interns which enabled me to get glimpses of each’s culture. With them, I went to few shrines and castles around Shizuoka and learned more about the culture and history. We also went around Tokyo and experienced the city’s fast-paced life. Then, we went to enjoy Fuji-Q Highland’s extreme rides. Then, climbed Fuji-san and attended Numazu Festival where we celebrated with local people and enjoyed Japan street food while watching fireworks.
Every weekday of my stay was a learning opportunity and every weekend was a chance to embrace Japan. Thank you so much NIG, no word is enough to explain how grateful I am and how much I cherish this experience.
Aidana Shagirova
From:Al-Farabi Kazakh NationalUniversity, Kazakhstan
Stayed at:Division of Centrosome Biology / Kitagawa Group
I always admired Japan for its culture, art, and uniqueness. And when I received an invitation letter it was like receiving a letter from the Hogwarts. I couldn’t believe my fortune until I stepped into Japan. General affairs team provided everything starting from flight and visa, till the final instructions about the presentation. And when I came to NIG they introduced me to my lab mate and further I got to know my PI and mentor.
I was warmly welcomed by my mentor Takao sensei and with his help and patience, I could learn a lot about doing research. It was very exciting to do independent research and try to interpret unexpected results. From this internship, I have learned new techniques like cell culturing and transfecting, immunofluorescence staining, also became proficient in using confocal and delta vision microscopes, image analysis programs, and learned how to interpret the data. And thanks to Akshari-san, I tried my very first western blotting.
I really liked the liberal and relaxing atmosphere in the lab. I found it enjoyable to do research in this environment and Kitagawa lab members were extremely kind and helpful. Also, I had an opportunity to meet amazing researchers in diverse fields of genetics and get insight to their study during my lab visits. The study and work time during the internship was well balanced with time to relax and travel. During weekends I had a chance to visit all around Mishima, do shopping in Tokyo, try attractions in FujiQ and enjoy fireworks by Numazu Riverside. Also had fun at parties and tried Japanese food in local restaurants with my cointerns and lab mates. Weekly Japanese lessons with Miyauchi sensei were also full of fun.
I had limited food range here in Japan, but thanks to the flexible cafeteria menu and well-equipped communal kitchen in the guesthouse I could enjoy a variety of local food as well as experimental new ones.
Overall, the summer in NIG was unforgettable. I made new friends from a Japan, India, Vietnam, Spain, Philippines, Taiwan and Russia.
From this internship, I learned not only new methods and techniques, but also learned to be a better person and better scientist.
Thank you NIG committee, SOKENDAI for giving such an amazing opportunity.
Alejandra Rodriguez de la Rosa
From:Pompeu Fabra University,Barcelona, Spain
Stayed at:Division of Molecular and Developmental Biology / Kawakami Group
There are some experiences that mark your life. Having been a NIGintern is one of those. After more than half a day flying, I landed in a totally different country: different people, food, religion, culture… But when I arrived to the Kawakami Lab, all its members welcomed me to Japan so kindly and greeted me so heartwarmingly that I felt back at home instantly. It is wonderful how science breaks frontiers!
My project was about the production of knock-in transgenic zebrafish carrying Gal4FF gene by CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome engineering. I didn’t have any previous experience with zebrafish, but thanks to the patient guidance of Kotani-san, Kawakami-sensei and Aki-san I learned how to microinject the eggs, test the CRISPR gRNA efficiency and construct the necessary vector, aside from practicing essential lab procedures such as transformation, direct sequencing, mini-prep production…
In addition, I really enjoyed many other things, as the meals with the lab members in the cafeteria talking about Japan as well as about my own country, the dinner we had in the izakaya, and specially the Japanese classes with Miyauchi-sensei, who even prepared a tea party for all the interns!
During the weekends, I had a chance to visit places that I always wanted to see since I was a child, such as Kyoto, Nara, Tokyo, Hakone, and Osaka, thanks to the super-fast shinkansen and bus services. These opportunities allowed me to experience from the amazing traditional cultural heritage to the futuristic buildings in Japan. And I even visited the Ghibli Museum!
We also organized some collective activities with other interns. Together we gave a try to different foods (Okonomiyaki, Kaitensushi), enjoyed a visit to FujiQ, went to Numazu festival and saw the fireworks. But above all, I will never forget the moment we got to see the sunrise from the very top of the Mount Fuji.
If one year ago someone had told me that I would have the opportunity to visit such an incredible country while doing what I love the most…science, I wouldn’t have believed them. But now all I have to say is that Japan is wonderful country, and that its best thing is their kind and warm people, from who we have a lot to learn from.
ありがとうございました!
Huong Thi Thuy Ta
From:Vietnam National University, Vietnam
Stayed at:Experimental Farm / Nonomura Group
I think my journey started when I dicided to translate my academic transcript into English by myself because I registered late and didn’t have enough time to get English transcript from my university. My teacher also said that he sent his recommendation letter a bit late. So I didn’t expect anything and was surprised when I recieved acceptance email from NIG. I was lucky.
I remember when Ayako-san stopped her car, waved her hand through the car window and said “Good morning” on my third day in Japan. Japan could not be more friendly to me at that time.
Nonomura sensei was the cutest PI I have met, and also an extremely supportive one. My two supervisors were so caring. I learnt a lot during the time I studied in our lab. As my major at my home university is Microbiology, I had a hard start but thank to my supervisors and other lab members, I finally completed my project in NIG and I really enjoyed learning rice meiosis, rice development at our lab as plant genetics is always what I love to study, beside Microbiology.
I remember my first “Natto trial” on the last day I was in Japan, thanks to Liu-san, my Chinese supervisor who remembered I said that I wanted to try Natto on the first week, and Tsuda-san who mixed the Natto professionally. That was a fun last day.
I have experienced one of the most memorable times in my life in these 6 weeks. I conducted experiments that I had never done before. I learnt new things. I was treated as a member of this big family Experimental farm. Now when I think of their faces, I smile. They have definitely made my life better.
These 6 weeks also brought me new friends from all over the world, as well as the chance to visit other labs, meet up with the PIs and know about various research fileds in NIG.
I am grateful to my lab’s members as well as all member of NIGINTERN commitee who took care of us interns in every step of our journey.
I have had a wonderful time in Japan which I will remember till the end of my life.
Yu-Heng Hsieh
From:National Taiwan University（NTU) , Taiwan
Stayed at:Division of Molecular Cell Engineering / Kanemaki Group
It is my pleasure to be accepted by the admission committee of NIGINTERN2017. I was extremely happy when I saw the result announcement from the NIG website then. Prof. Masato started to discuss the topic of my project with me before the internship, and I was so excited to work about AID system this summer.
Mishima, where NIG locates, is a city fit for habitation, and the weather, food and people here are so nice. Professor Kanemaki is truly an extraordinary scientist who always reminded me the key point of how to become a great scientist. The assistant professor Natsume is also an excellent mentor, who guided me to conduct my experiments and had some discussion with me whenever I got some results. Other lab members like Lotte and Venny are so kind, and I will never forget that impressive Friday night we had in the bar. Every Monday morning, I was looking forward to the journal club, which made me understand the latest discovery in my research area and learn the way to have a good presentation. I am blessed with having a chance to join Kanemaki’s lab!
In addition to lab’s experience, I learned a lot from different research areas during my lab visits. The Japanese class with Miyauchi-sensei is impressive. Through Miyauchi-sensei’s comprehensive teaching, I understood how to apply some advanced grammar in Japanese.
On my weekends, I have been to several amazing places in Japan such as Nikko, Hakone and Tokyo, where I enjoyed the breath-taking scenery and lots of sacred shrines. I also watched the goraikou (sunshine at dawn) on the summit of Mt. Fuji and the fireworks in Numazu with other interns. We became good friends during the internship and I could learn the different culture from them. For sure, this friendship will last forever.
All in all, I truly enjoyed these forty days in NIG. I hope I can visit NIG again in the future!
Chun-Hao Chien
From:National Taiwan University（NTU) , Taiwan
Stayed at:Division of Human Genetics / Inoue Group
I was so thankful for receiving the acceptance letter for the NIGINTERN 2017 program. This was an invaluable experience in my life.
As Bioinformatics is a mysterious and interesting field for me, I applied Human Genetics Department. In the past six weeks, I worked at the Human Genetics Department under Professor Ituro Inoue’s guidance, joined a project involving NGS data analysis, and gave an oral presentation titled: “The Mutation Pattern of Different Tissues from a Patient with Endometriosis and Ovarian Clear Cell Carcinoma” to the faculty. During all the training in NIG, I have learned a lot about how to analyze data from Next Generation Sequencing in mathmatical ways, how to use R programming language to solve data problems, how to read papers efficiently, and how to express my ideas in a logical and creative manner in English, etc. Thanks a lot for the time and patience all the lab memebers spent on me. It was my pleasure to work with them.
Besides the time I spent in lab, NIG provided lab visiting activities for us in weekdays. Also, there were seminars almost everyday, we can join as we wanted. I was impressed by the different view, different ways of thinking, different models and different model animals. All these broadened our horizon in scientific field. Also, NIG provided Japanese classes once a week. The teacher was kind and patient, teaching us many useful phrases from basic level.
In weekends, we can make our own plans. I went to Kyoto for visting my friends studying in Kyoto University, went to Hakone and saw the Torii (the gate of shrine) standing in the lake, went to Shizuoka and Matsubara to visit the Kunōzan Tōshō-gū Shrine and to stay by the sea. In addition, most interesting, we (other interns and me) climbed Mt. Fuji overnight, to see the sunrise! The view was breathtaking and amazing. The time getting along with interns was wonderful, we helped each other and discussed different cultures. (The committee said they chose interens from different countries!)
Finally, I would like to appreciate for the acceptance from NIGINTERN committee again. I really enjoyed the internship in NIG, the majestic nature of Japan, the kind people from several countries I met here, and the delicacy and delicious seafood. Most importantly, I would never forget the knowledge and skills I learned and every single moment with all of you in NIG and Prof. Ituro Inoue’s lab.