[Student Achievements] From the Research Physician Course to New Fields - Unrelenting Challenges

I'm happy. To be honest, I had no idea at first what the title of "world-class" meant. I was looking for various labs that I found interesting, and by chance, Professor Sakurai's lab at IIIS matched my interests. People around me were surprised, saying, "You're going to that big lab!" and "It's often featured on TV!", and it only became clear to me later that I was going to a really big lab. While I'm happy, I've heard that the lab attracts many talented people, so I'm a bit worried about whether I'll be able to get along well there.

Thank you. Initially, I wanted to go to graduate school at the University of Tsukuba, so I consulted with my supervisor, Professor Arata. He introduced me to two or three places, one of which was the laboratory at IIIS. The laboratory he introduced me to at that time was run by a different professor than Professor Sakurai, but when he introduced me to it, I was searching the internet for interesting laboratories, and I came across Professor Sakurai's lab. So I made an appointment with Professor Sakurai directly and visited his lab. I started making moves like this around November of my fifth year.

At the time of our previous interview, I still felt that research was fun. However, that doesn't mean I wasn't interested at all. When I was a freshman at university, I attended a lecture by Professor Yanagisawa from Tsukuba University at our university, and I remember thinking that sleep was fascinating. Then, in my second year at university, I listened to Professor Arata's talk on sleep in his class, and I thought the human body was fascinating, and I became even more interested in sleep medicine. Professor Arata's class was the most interesting and fun. It was also what led me to join my current lab.

Previous interviews can be found at the links below:

I was so nervous that I think it was obvious to the interviewers that I was nervous. There were four interviewers, and when I looked over I noticed that it was Professor Sakurai, the professor in the lab I was applying to, which made me very nervous. However, as the interview progressed I felt that it wasn't an interview designed to fail me, and I was able to talk calmly about various things.

Making friends of my generation through the many conferences I attended was a great experience. Depending on the conference venue, student presentations were often all gathered in one corner, and meeting the people I met there at the next conference made me feel motivated, "They're working hard, so I want to work hard too." This is one of the great things about participating in so many conference presentations. The most difficult part was my final presentation for the IDDI Obata Award. Up until then, I'd mostly spoken to people from the same academic society, and they'd listened with a certain degree of understanding. But this time, the key was to communicate clearly to people from completely different fields in the limited time of five minutes. It was my first attempt, and it was extremely difficult. I was truly grateful for the support I received from friends in my lab during practice and preparation, and for the help of alumni who corrected my manuscript.

I had a relatively large amount of time to devote to experiments, which allowed me to make progress in my experiments, and I was able to give presentations at many conferences. Looking back now, I think that SfN (Society for Neuroscience) was an extension of the many conferences I gave presentations at in Japan. I think that I would not have been able to attend a major international conference while still a student had I not been in the research physician course.
Additionally, graduate students often have to pay for their own attendance at conferences, but I think the benefit of the research physician course is that it provides assistance with conference participation fees and other expenses.

First of all, I'm grateful to have been accepted into the research physician program and to have been accepted by graduate school. I'm also filled with gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Arata, who helped me during my preparation period, as well as Professor Koga and Mr. Kawabata from the neighboring lab. While I'm grateful, I'm also a little anxious about the lack of peers and the wide range of work I have to do, as it's rare across the country to be both a graduate student and a resident. However, I intend to do my best to the best of my ability, with a "grab the opportunity" mentality. In the future, I'd like to continue research for as long as possible. If the opportunity arises, I'd also like to go abroad and work as a postdoctoral researcher.

Without Professor Arata, I would never have thought of going to graduate school. I also don't think I would have been able to make time for research or attend conferences as frequently as I do now. I owe it all to Professor Arata for always leading me along. I'm extremely grateful for the support he has given me throughout most of my university life, from my third year until now. Thank you very much.

◆An interview with Naoko Masutani, also a 6th year School of Medicine student in the research physician course, can be viewed at the link below.
[Student Achievements] Research Doctor Course Student Receives Japan Neuroscience Society Domestic Travel Award