Message From NIG Interns 2009
Surojit Sural

Surojit Sural "Are you a vegetarian ?" this was the first question my mentor asked me when I landed at NIG. Though food is a major problem in Japan for students from vegetarian-dominated countries like India, I can declare with certainty that but for this, Japan is a heaven for students interested in reaping the benefits of world-class scientific research.


 My host laboratory in NIG was Cytogenetics Lab which uses yeast as a model organism (both S. cerevisiae and S. pombe). I will frankly admit that before joining this lab, I didn't have much respect for lower eukaryotes as objects to be used in scientific research. This stereotypical view of mine was completely revolutionized when I saw the level of research in the lab. My mentor, Prof. Takehiko Kobayashi, addresses such crucial aspects of rRNA coding genes (rDNA) in S. cerevisiae that they are capable of exciting any person who is even barely interested in life sciences. Finally I came to the conclusion that the most important aspect of research is one’s approach towards a problem and not just a high-tech gadget which one uses.


 Both my projects, one under Prof. Kobayashi himself , and another under Asst. Prof. Tetsushi Iida, were so close to my research interests that I can apply almost everything I learnt here in the scientific activities I'll undertake in future. One thing in NIG which highly fascinated me was the fruitfulness of discussion after the seminars. It was really great to see the interest people show in each other's work which nourishes and fine-tunes every research activity in the institute. By now the reader might feel that I did nothing other than science in the duration of my internship; but I'll make it clear that I visited almost every must-visit place in Japan.


 For a student, NIG is a place to ponder, prosper and discover. In 10 weeks, the institute has given me so much that I'll surely like to come back to NIG for my research endeavour.



→Kobayashi Laboratory

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