Every year, HIRAKU-Global puts on an Annual Conference, featuring research updates from the HIRAKU-Global Researcher (HGR) cohort undergoing mid-term evaluations that year, and is an opportunity for the HGR speakers to receive feedback from their HGR peers and HIRAKU-Global mentors. In FY2025, that cohort is the 4^th HGR cohort, composed of five researchers coming from a variety of fields, including engineering, science, and medicine. This year, with a theme of “Future Global Research Leaders from Chugoku-Shikoku” at the HIRAKU-Global Annual Conference FY2025 held online on February 27^th, 2026, the 4^th HGR cohort presented on their research activities up until now as an HGR, and also about their research plans going forward.  

The event started off with brief introductory remarks from Prof. MITSUDA Noriaki, Executive Director and Vice President of Ehime University, and member of the HIRAKU-Global Operating Council. This was followed by a short introduction of HIRAKU-Global by HIRAKU-Global Program Manager Tony Z. JIA, which included a brief introduction of the day’s HGR speakers. After that, the five 4^th Cohort HGRs each gave short presentations, each chaired by a 3^rd Cohort HGRs, followed by Q&A. The HGRs all showed through their presentation styles the type of researcher they are/aspire to be, while also giving insights into their scientific style and goals. 

First, Dr. Alberto GALLEGOS RAMONET of Tokushima University spoke about network simulators and open source projects, including about the importance of open source tools. His talk also covered his recent collaborative trip to Florence, Italy, where he spent several weeks working with collaborators there, funded by travel support from HIRAKU-Global. Next, Dr. KATO Hirotaka of Ehime University talked about plant development and evolution, and specifically about three new projects related to various plant systems that he started after he moved to his current position. This was a result of his willingness to challenge new research questions, not wanting his research goals to stagnate by continuing to study only systems which he was familiar with. Dr. KATO also discussed his efforts to keep up with international collaborations while balancing childcare and educational duties. Dr. KAWAHARA Daisuke of Hiroshima University then discussed his work as a medical physicist in linking medical imaging, AI, and drug discovery. Dr. KAWAHARA is currently in the midst of working with potential collaborators across the world in order to grow this field in Japan, hopefully so that AI and imaging can be brought to market and treatment here in Japan.

After a short break, we next heard from Dr. MINATO Takuo from Hiroshima University about his efforts to synthesize new magnetic inorganic materials, and especially about how he decided to approach international collaboration. Specifically, Dr. MINATO’s experience meeting former colleagues and potential collaborators, some of whom were also friends or became friends, at various international meetings, was what drove his current international collaborative efforts. Finally, Dr. SHIMASAKI Kohei of Hiroshima University discussed new techniques he has been developing for inspection and monitoring using high-speed vision and detection technologies in industrial health. Dr. SHIMASAKI is also founder of SYNRA, Inc., a start-up company which focuses on developing these technologies industrially. Dr. SHIMASAKI’s presentation thus featured a number of videos showing the capabilities of his new technologies.

Finally, we were honored to be able to welcome Prof. HARA Masahiko, Director of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) London Office, to give a keynote presentation about “Building and Leading International Collaborative Research Networks”. Prof. HARA had a long career as a faculty member in Japan, including at institutions such as RIKEN and Science Tokyo, while also hosting over 200 postdocs in his labs over his career, roughly half of whom came from overseas; Prof. HARA also held a number of positions over the years outside of Japan in many countries as well, including South Korea and Germany. His experience in working with a team of students and researchers from around the world in a number of different settings has really shaped how he views the importance of international collaboration in research, and he graciously shared a number of tips and vignettes about what he believes breeds successful communication and collaboration between Japanese and international researchers. 

After all of the speakers finished their presentations, HIRAKU-Global consortium mentor Dr. SUZUKI Ei-ichiro provided closing remarks, encouraging the early career HGRs to be proactive in following their research and career goals and dreams, drawing inspiration from famous researchers throughout history. All in all, 75 attendees (which includes speakers, HGRs, mentors, guests, and HIRAKU-Global committee and advisory board members, among others) were able to hear from the 4^th Cohort HGRs and Prof. HARA. We hope that everyone will put the lessons from Prof. HARA into practice, while simultaneously supporting the 4^th Cohort HGRs in their future research careers. HIRAKU-Global envisions that these talented early career researchers will be future leaders in their respective fields, and believe that you will see them again prominently in the future!

Program

13:00-13:05：Opening Remarks MITSUDA Noriaki 
　　　　　　　 Executive Director and Vice President, Ehime University 
　　　　　　　 HIRAKU-Global Operating Council Member

13:05-13:20：Introduction to HIRAKU-Global Prof. Tony Z JIA HIRAKU-Global Program Manager
　　　　　　　"What (and Who) is HIRAKU-Global?"

Presentations by the 4th HIRAKU-Global Researcher (HGR) Cohort
　　　　　　　Chaired by 3rd Cohort HGRs 

13:20-13:50：Dr. Alberto GALLEGOS RAMONET, Tokushima University
　　　　　　　"From Contribution to Collaboration: Networking in open-source projects"

13:50-14:20：Dr. KATO Hirotaka, Ehime University
　　　　　　　"Plant development and evolution ~expanding research and collaboration networks~"

14:20-14:50：Dr. KAWAHARA Daisuke, Hiroshima University
　　　　　　　"From medical Images to Drug Discovery:
　　　　　　　AI Linking Visible Tumors to Molecular Insights"

14:50-15:00：Break

15:00-15:30：Dr. MINATO Takuo, Hiroshima University
　　　　　　　"Friendship and research (How did I change my mindset?)"

15:30-16:00：Dr. SHIMASAKI Kohei, Hiroshima University
　　　　　　　"Smart Inspection Monitoring using high-speed vision"

Keynote Presentation

16:00-16:50：Dr. HARA Masahiko Director
　　　　　　　Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) London Office, UK
　　　　　　　"Building and Leading International Collaborative Research Networks"

16:50-16:55：Closing Remarks SUZUKI Ei-ichiro
　　　　　　　Director, Kihara Memorial Yokohama Foundation for the Advancement of Life Sciences
　　　　　　　HIRAKU-Global Consortium Mentor