On November 8, as part of the activities of the Study in Japan Global Network Project in ASEAN commissioned by MEXT, "Online English Presentation Contest - what we love about my university-” was held in English, and a representative team from our university won the Audience Award (first place in audience voting).
　The contest was co-hosted by the Consortium of Six National Universities in Japan (Chiba University, Niigata University, Kanazawa University, Okayama University, Nagasaki University, and Kumamoto University), a partner institution of Study in Japan Global Network Project in ASEAN, to promote the attractiveness of Japanese universities throughout ASEAN and to provide opportunities for student exchange between Japan and ASEAN countries. The contest was attended by 14 students from Six National Universities in Japan and 64 viewers from ASEAN.
At the beginning of the contest, Vice President for International Affairs SUZUKI Takayoshi delivered opening remarks on behalf of the organizers and encouraged the representative students of each university. Professor KADOTA Isao from the Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology also participated as a judge.
　On behalf of our university, SHIGE Hard Lisa (2nd year, Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical School), OKADA Riho (2nd year, Discovery Program for Global Learners), and WADA Suzuka (2nd year, Faculty of Law), all of whom minor in the Special Program for Global Human Resource Development (aka “The G-Course”) offered by the Institute of Global Human Resource Development, gave a light-hearted quiz show-style presentation, explaining the charms of Okayama University.
The contest had two awards: the Jury Award, which was determined by the judges' scores, and the Audience Award, which was determined by the popular vote of viewers from ASEAN, and our university's team won the Audience Award. After the contest, an interaction session was held with viewers from ASEAN.
　Students who participated in the contest commented, "I was able to hear stories from other universities, and there were many activities that I wish I could do at Okayama University," and "At the interaction session, the ASEAN participants asked me many questions, and it was good that we could talk a lot, and I also gained some insight for myself.
　Study in Japan Global Network Project in ASEAN will continue to promote the attractiveness of Japanese universities and study in Japan in order to attract excellent international students from ASEAN.


〇 What is Study in Japan Global Network Project in ASEAN?

Okayama University was appointed to implement the “Study in Japan Global Network Project in ASEAN” which is funded by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) - Japan in 2019. Our aim is to increase the number of international students from ASEAN 1.5 times in 5 years. In the previous phase, Okayama University was commissioned by MEXT - Japan to implement the “Coordinator for Study in Japan (Myanmar)” in 2014, aiming to double the number of students from Myanmar over a 5-year period. As a result, Okayama University were able to triple the number of students in 4 years, achieving our goal one year ahead. In 2018, the name of the project was changed to “Study in Japan Global Network Project in ASEAN” and the target region was expanded to 10 ASEAN countries.
Currently, Okayama University has oversea offices in Yangon and Mandalay (Myanmar), Bangkok (Thailand), Phnom Penh (Cambodia), and Vientiane (Laos). From these 5 bases, Okayama University will work to recruit excellent international students from ASEAN to study in Japan.