From February 20 to 21, 2023, the HIRAKU-Global Program (the Program) held the International Symposium / Annual Conference for FY2022 as a completely online event (via Zoom). Across the two days, 108 and 101 participants (for the 20th and 21st respectively) from all over the country took part in the event.

Within "Day 1", the 1st Cohort of HIRAKU-Global Researchers (HGRs), who were selected by the Program in FY2020 and are in their 3rd year of development, outlined how they will continue making further strides towards becoming world-class researchers by presenting upon their current research and future plans.
Within "Day 2", Dr. Gareth DYKE (Research Square Company) was invited to present a seminar on the essential essence that is required to submit papers in high impact journals. Given that Dr. DYKE himself is a researcher who has published more than 300 papers in high impact journals such as Nature and Science, and has held numerous seminars and workshops on researcher development, he was able to provide an insightful lecture by utilizing his personal experiences and sharing his point of view.
As HGRs from the 1st Cohort through to the 3rd Cohort participated in the event, lively discussions were held during the respective Q&A sessions that were held after the presentations on Day 1 and the seminar on Day 2.

*Dr. Gareth DYKE's seminar from Day 2 (February 21) can be viewed via the below video.

The feedback we received at the conclusion of the event from the HGRs who participated can be viewed below (partial extracts).

■Day 1

• It was useful to have the opportunity to listen to the research of the 1st Cohort HGRs, and to acquire important information regarding planning research visits in the future, which in turn presented an opportunity to directly ask them more about such information through emails and chats.
• Watching the 1st Cohort HGRs’ presentations gave me insights for my future presentation materials. Also, I was inspired by the visions and activities of the other HGRs.
• The 1st Cohort HGRs’ presentations showcased various examples for promoting research activities that were full of content and interesting.
• The international activities and detailed research contents presented from the 1st Cohort HGRs were comprehensive and gave me various ideas.
• I understood and learned a lot about how the 1st Cohort HGRs have been establishing and expanding their research in the past three years and their future prospects.

■Day 2

• Although I was already aware of some of the information, I anticipate that the many useful tips from the sessions will help my paper writing from now onwards. Specifically, creating a template when contacting the Editor beforehand was new to me.
• The practical examples on writing a cover letter were very useful. I learned a lot since I had never thought about contacting the Editor of a journal.
• I managed to systematically learn about the key items involved with publishing a paper and about how to communicate with the Editor and reviewers, which I had not known. I also became aware of new perspectives through the questions that the other participants asked. Since the lecturer’s talk was easy to follow but too fast to make notes of, I would have appreciated to have supporting documents on hand.
• Becoming aware of the strategy for the peer-review process, which I hadn’t had a chance to know, was great. Although it will be tough to manage all of the paper publishing procedures by myself as I become a PI, this session will be more than helpful.
• I gained knowledge on selecting the journals to submit to, the procedure before the submission, and other helpful tools, which were very practical.