The inaugural WIAS Homecoming Day event was held on December 9, 2023. This event aims to connect WIAS’ alumni with the institute’s current members, giving the current members an opportunity to present their research projects while receiving advice and insights on their future career opportunities from the former members. WIAS now has around 200 former members working in academia, government, and private sector companies, so their experiences and knowledge are of immense value to the current WIAS researchers who are in earlier stages of their careers.

The event was planned by WIAS’ Chief Secretaries – Dr. Tomohiro Fujita (Natural Sciences), Dr. James Harry Morris (Humanities), and Dr. Robert Fahey (Social Sciences) – and held with the assistance of the WIAS Events Committee and the WIAS office staff. Since the primary aim of the event was to allow former and current members to network and get to know one another, the format of the event was informal and relaxed. Current WIAS members prepared posters introducing their research projects, while several former members gave short talks and answered questions about their careers after WIAS. In between the talks, attendees could help themselves to coffee and doughnuts while they explored the posters and talked to the current WIAS researchers.

Following opening remarks from the WIAS Chief Secretaries, there were two career talk sessions during the afternoon-long event at Waseda University’s International Conference Centre. In the first session, Dr. Shinya Kato (Principal Research Scientist, Nanofiber Quantum Technologies) and Dr. Reto Hofmann (Associate Professor, Curtin University) discussed their career paths, while the second session consisted of talks by Dr. Jiro Nishinaga (Senior Research Scientist, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology) and Dr. Kohei Watanabe (Senior Data Scientist, Lazard Asset Management). The speakers outlined a very wide range of different research career paths, and each of their talks was followed by a lively Q&A session.

Finally, the afternoon session was closed by comments from Professor Takuya Soma (Associate Professor, Kyoto University Hakubi Centre), who talked about his fond memories of his time at WIAS and expressed his hope that events like this which engage the institute’s alumni community will continue in future. This afternoon event was then followed in the evening by a buffet meal and drinks for the event participants, which was opened with remarks and an opening toast from former WIAS director Professor Hideaki Miyajima (Executive Vice President for Financial Affairs, Waseda University). Members enjoyed the evening together, strengthening the bonds within the WIAS community, with the party finally being closed with a toast – a traditional “kanto ipponjime” – by WIAS Associate Director Professor Chiharu Tokoro.

The event highlighted the diversity of research themes and approaches being explored by current WIAS members, as well as the different career paths pursued by former members of the institute, and brought together WIAS researchers from across the institute’s 17 years of operation. After several years of the COVID-19 pandemic in which face-to-face events could not be held, creating this kind of opportunity for networking and socialising within the WIAS community is especially important. We look forward to holding many such events in the future, and will actively seek ways to develop the Homecoming Day and other such events so that even more of WIAS’ alumni – including those outside Japan – can participate and feel more involved in the ever-growing community of WIAS researchers.

Text: Robert Fahey (Assistant Professor, WIAS)