Events & News
We held a Joint Journal Club with UCD.
The Biological Science (BS) Division, NAIST and the University of California, Davis (UCD) have been holding a Joint Journal Club using an online system every year from January to March. In its 14th year, this year’s program included five participants from our BS Division (doctoral students who volunteered to participate) and nine students from UCD. Across the eight sessions, a total of 16 faculty members—one from our university and one from UCD for each session—participated as mentor faculty. They played roles such as assisting with the selection of papers, facilitating discussions, and responding to questions from participants.
A distinctive feature of this course is that students closely read a wide range of cutting-edge papers in the field of plant science and receive advice from experts in the respective areas. Because the students come from diverse research backgrounds and have varying levels of experience, the sessions proceed interactively in a friendly atmosphere where participants feel comfortable asking questions and learning from one another. For the students, gaining insight into the differences in teaching approaches between Japanese and U.S. university faculty members is also a valuable experience.
This year, a new format was introduced in which participants took on the roles of Discussion Leader, Presenter, and Reviewer in each session, encouraging more active discussion. Even within the limited time available, participants were able to engage in discussions from multiple perspectives and gain new insights.
Moving forward, we hope to further develop this course while continuing to build on the strong relationship between the two universities.
（March 06, 2026）
