The Mid-term Evaluation Symposium 2019 was held in NAIST, last Nov 26 and 27. It is an annual event where a large portion of Materials Science course students present their research in conference-style oral and poster sessions. Now on its 11th year, it is one of the biggest internal events in the MS Division.
The Mid-term Evaluation Symposium is designed for the MS doctor and alpha course (straight masters to doctoral course program) students, and mainly serves two purposes. The first one is to provide the students with firsthand experience in an international conference. The symposium provides an avenue for students to practice explaining their research confidently and eloquently in English, preparing them for future conference presentations. Secondly, the students’ research progress is evaluated by their respective supervisors during the poster sessions. The yearly supervisor evaluation is recorded, and will determine the students’ eligibility for graduation.
This is a busy time for everyone in Materials Science, as everyone plays some role. While all participants are required to do poster presentations, second (D2) and third year (D3) doctoral students are also tasked to give oral presentations. As additional training, the task of session chairperson was assigned to selected D2 students. Moreover, while professors were part of the audience, only students were allowed to give questions and comments to the speakers. Each student was also assigned to comment on two other students’ presentations via a written peer evaluation system.
The symposium is categorized into two courses – the A course, which tackles Physics and Electronics, and the B course, which involves Chemistry, Biomaterials, and Data Science. The two courses were held in parallel, wherein one course holds poster sessions while the other conducts the oral sessions, and vice-versa.
To cap off the two-day symposium, best presentation awards were given per course. The best presentation for the A course was awarded to Erus Rustami of the Photonic Device Science Laboratory, while the B course awardees were Junpei Kuno of Photonic Molecular Science Laboratory and Narumi Kumamoto of Nanomaterials and Polymer Chemistry Laboratory.
The annual Midterm Symposium, which occurs around November, is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated events in NAIST MS Division. As nerve-racking as it may seem to most MS students, it is also a fun opportunity to learn new things and meet new friends.