[1] Lab. Meeting
We have a Lab. meeting in the morning of every Friday.
Every attendant first gives a brief progress report about his/her recent
research activities.
Then we discuss various ways of improving the quality and efficiency of
the research.
In our laboratory, all faculty member, post-doc student, and graduate
student conduct their own research topics on an equal basis.
Thus, the second aim of this weekly meeting is to allow the students to see
and experience their supervisors' research progress, including the
problematic areas.
We believe that such real examples of scientific research efforts can help
students mature with respect to their knowledge and methods of conducting
research.
[2] Hacto Seminar
The Hacto Seminar is held every other week jointly between the High
Pressure Mineral Physics Group and the Experimental Planetary Group.
In this seminar, we report on numerous research results in a more formal
manner than in the abovementioned group meeting.
All the attendants, regardless of position, participate in the discussion on
equal footing, as we believe that differences in social status are
meaningless in science.
[3] Nature and Science Seminar
In this seminar, we make a rapid report of important papers, such as
published on Nature and Science.
As long as it is important, we may report other papers published on other
journals. The choice of paper is absolutely up to individuals.
The aims of this seminar are not only to prevent us from being buried
in
routine work, but also to expand our scientific scope
[4] Colloquiums, Seminars, and Lectures
The backgrounds of our students are very different. After examining each
individual's background, we strive to work on improving his or her weak
points, especially those that are indispensable in research, through
various
activities.
Fortunately, we can accomplish this on a one-to-one basis due to our small
number of students. For example, we have started physics seminars in
areas
such as thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and electromagnetism,
for students from the fields of earth sciences.
In addition, we have also held introductory earth science seminars for
students from other disciplines. We also provide opportunities for reading
up-to-date articles carefully with mentors to help students understand
the
cutting edge trends in their research field.
The activities [1]-[4] mentioned above are known as "events"
in our
research group.
Simultaneously, informal interactions, such as daily discussions, are also
quite common among us, with the topics of discussion ranging from
educational or management to technical or scientific issues.
Through these activities, we can further cultivate our logical thinking
abilities.
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