TUSTEM Provided Various Platforms for International Exchange in the Fall of 2023

   TUSTEM (Tohoku University STEM Student Network), an international exchange student organization, was established in 2018 to foster interactions among the STEM student community at Tohoku University. STEM students have relatively heavy coursework and lab work but are eager to have more interactions, especially outside of labs. Hence, all TUSTEM events aim to provide a platform where Japanese and international students can easily interact.

   As in the previous semester, we held monthly "Weekly Dinner and Language Exchange" sessions as the core of our activities. The purpose of this weekly session was to learn English and Japanese and deepen friendships through discussions and other activities. Participants shared their experiences and cultural perspectives on topics chosen by the session facilitators. In addition to academic topics, participants also interacted in group work using the "Pasta Tower Game," in which they built a taller tower using pasta and marshmallows. The total number of participants for this event during the semester was about 60. The event was a very diverse gathering, with students from more countries coming to Tohoku University now that the COVID situation has settled down.

   In April and May, we held our first "Academic Dinner" in three years. At the "Academic Dinner," Japanese and international students were asked to give 10-15 minute academic presentations, which were followed by a Q&A session to stimulate communication between the participants and speakers. In June, with the cooperation of Prof. William McDonough, we held a "Coffee Event" in which the professors and students were close to each other in a free talk format. We hope that students who are usually immersed in their research will use this opportunity to broaden their knowledge by listening to talks in fields different from their own, and we hope to continue this event every semester. In addition, for the first time this semester, we held a "World Food Party" as a joint event with IPLANET and SakTus, where international students served dishes from about 15 different countries at UH Aobayama. The event was a great success, with about 70 people attending.

   In July, we supported classes and experiments of TSSP (Tohoku University STEM Student Program), a short-term science exchange program mainly at the University of Washington. In August, we had the opportunity to assist in organizing the presentation of the final research results of JYPE and COLABS, Tohoku University's science exchange program. Also, from the end of the semester to the end of the summer vacation, we had a Japanese language education program for the newly enrolled FGL students in October, and each TUSTEM leader was able to guide a class as a responsible mentor.

TUSTEM will continue to provide opportunities for international exchange in the second semester of 2023, so please join us.

  We will continue to offer chances for international exchange in the upcoming semester.
For more information on TUSTEM upcoming events, please visit the official Instagram
account and our informative platform TUinteC.
https://www.instagram.com/tustem_official/
https://english-info-wk4w.glide.page/dl/0f5325

(Reported by the TUSTEM leader/representative, Itsuki TSUCHIDA)