On June 25th, Okayama University Institute for Education and Student Services’ Center for Enrollment Management Department of Student Support Services hosted the 2021 Student-Company Exchange on Research Internships in collaboration with the general incorporated association C-Engine (also known as the Industry-Academia Collaboration Project to Accelerate Open Innovation Human Resources Development Council).

Okayama University actively promotes research internships, in which graduate students pursuing their doctoral or Five-year doctoral degree has the opportunity to gain experience working at companies with in-house research facilities. This exchange session was organized with the aim of matching graduate students to companies where they could potentially complete a research internship.

Approximately 100 people attended the event, including representatives from nine major companies with research internship programs, and graduate students and faculty members from Okayama University. After opening remarks by Okayama University Executive Vice President and Executive Director for Academic Affairs FUNAHASHI Hiroaki, C-Engine business manager FUJIMORI Yoshihiro introduced the association’s activities, followed by Associate Professor MACHIDA Hisashi from Okayama University Center for Enrollment Management Department of Student Support Services, who gave a brief overview of what students can expect from research internships. Afterwards, company representatives gave presentations on their respective companies and business activities to attentive graduate students.

Okayama University promotes the career development of graduate students pursuing their doctoral or Five-year doctoral degrees in order to support young researchers who will play an important role in the development of science, technology, and innovation in Japan.

Apart from this exchange session, Okayama University also supports graduate students through its Science, Technology, and Innovation Creation Fellowship (OU Fellowship), which was established in 2021.

〇 Participating companies: KYOCERA Corporation; Daicel Corporation; DNP Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.; TOMOEGAWA CO., LTD.; Nitto Denko Corporation; HORIBA, Ltd.; MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC Corporation; Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.; and ROHTO Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

○ The OU fellowship is scheduled to continue in 2022. Applications for 2022 will open around October 2021.
Please see here for details on the fellowship.