On July 29th, 11 second-year students pursuing the mathematics and science track at Okayama Ichinomiya High School visited Okayama University and paid a curtesy call on President MAKINO Hirofumi.

From September 15th to 17th, the high school students will participate in “SDGs Seminar 2021 Autumn”, a special online seminar hosted by the Okayama University Faculty of Engineering, where they will get the chance to experience a demonstration experiment given in English. This special online seminar will host students from Okayama Ichinomiya High School as well as INTEC Education College in Malaysia, making it a unique collaborative event between high school students and university students. Okayama Ichinomiya High School students will also be inaugurated as Okayama University SDGs ambassadors, with the mandate to work alongside Okayama University in its goal to connect Okayama to the world through various SDGs-related initiatives.

During their visit, the students were encouraged by President MAKINO to find ways to contribute to scientific and technological innovations. On the same day, the students participated in a demonstration experiment in English where they made bath salts for the Okayama University press release event announcing the upcoming SDGs Seminar 2021 Autumn. Okayama University students from the Faculty of Engineering, Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, and Graduate School Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering in Health Systems will also participate in the demonstration experiment in September as teaching assistants to ensure a safe and successful experiment.

The upcoming SDGs Seminar 2021 Autumn is part of Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) Alternative Exchange for SAKURA Invitation Program and is hosted by the Okayama University Faculty of Engineering (represented by Technical Research Officer NAKAMURA Yuri) as an online activity for exchange between high school students and university students.

Okayama University believes that opportunities for online exchange are very important, especially because movement is restricted due to the spread of the coronavirus. Please look forward to an update on the exchange between high school students, university students, and graduate students – who are all next generation leaders.