Kobe University fosters academic exchange with universities in many countries and has more than 1,000 international students. To support currently enrolled international students in finding their first post-graduation employment, the university has established a system that focuses on career development from a global perspective. We interviewed IKEMURA Akiko, a project associate professor who supported international students’ job-hunting activities at the Career Center and who has been involved in the Global Career Development Program at the Graduate School of Agricultural Science since 2023, about past efforts and achievements as well as about current projects.

Kobe University is committed to supporting university-launched startups that create new businesses based on research results. The university’s long-term “KU VISION 2030” includes consistent support from entrepreneurship education to fundraising. A range of projects are now underway in fields that are Kobe University strengths, such as biotech manufacturing.

Wenxin Liu, a professor of electrical and computer engineering in Lehigh University’s P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science, recently received an $800,000 grant from the Office of Naval Research to develop a deep reinforcement learning (DRL)-based algorithm that integrates energy scheduling with power control.

A team at the University of Calgary is making scientific advances in understanding plant adaptation, which could ultimately be used to find ways to make agricultural crops more resilient to heat, drought and climate change.

Research from the heart of Chicago is helping scientists get a better picture of heat islands and air quality. The data will help homeowners and businesses strategize for energy security and climate resilience.

Using a unique measurement tool, researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have expanded our knowledge of the elements in soil and plants.

Mathematicians at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) are developing a new approach to detect cancer early. This technique could provide a powerful new tool against the disease and involves solving partial differential equations (PDEs). 

Prof. Ugur Abdulla, head of the Analysis and Partial Differential Equations Unit, joined OIST with the goal of making it one of the world’s leading centers in mathematics. "We want OIST to be a key place for sharing math knowledge globally," he said. "Our work with partner institutes helps us connect with different parts of the world, sharing knowledge and providing opportunities for PhD students to work on cutting edge problems in the frontline of mathematics."