O n Thursday 7th December, JSPS London Office held a JSPS short-term fellow pre-departure meeting at the Diawa Foundation office, London. Duringthis meeting I presented my own experiences of living and working in Japan. The aim of this presentation was to prepare the new fellows forthe challenges they will face and to reassure them that they would have a stimulating, academically fulfilling experience in Japan.

I broke the presentation down into Where?, Why?, What? and How?

The where was Kyoto, a city of 1.4 million people in the south west ofthe isle of Honshu. Kyoto is an ancient capital known for its many beautiful old temples and gardens. I was working with Prof. Shigeru Kinoshita at the Dept. Ophthalmology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine.

The why was for the science and the adventure.

The what happened to be corneal stem cell transplantation. Prof. Kinoshita's laboratory is at the cutting edge of stem cell transplantation to restore the vision blind patients.

The how detailed things to consider before leaving for Japan and to ask your host to recommend a helper, someone who can ease you into Japanese life.

I concluded by presentation with a retrospective of my time in Japan which included a list of achievements, a few photos, new friends and a love for Japanese food. I also suggested the fellows should think of there visit to Japan as only the beginning of the scientific exchange with the country, as there is lots of opportunities and organisations (including the JSPS) which are happy fund further high quality collaborations.

At the Pre-departure seminar for JSPS fellows at The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Fundation on 7th December 2006

• Presentation (Connon) (2.11mb)