The 2nd YROVP Workshop
Making the Most of Short-term Overseas Visits: Doing Fieldwork and Building Academic Networks

Overview

Date: Friday, 23 July 2010, 16:20–18:00 (Day 1)
Monday, 26 July 2010, 16:20–18:50 (Day 2)
Venue: Faculty Meeting Room, LS/CSE Building 2
Speakers:
Day 1

• Hiroyuki Fukuchi (Junior Fellow, Graduate School of Commerce and Management, Hitotsubashi University)
• Kazuya Wada (Research Fellow, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, University of Tokyo)

Day 2

• Taihei Okada (Assistant Professor, Department of Cross-cultural Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Seikei University)
  
• Shin'ichi Horikawa (Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Daito-bunka University)
  
• Chiho Ogaya (Associate Professor, Faculty of Education and Human Sciences, Yokohama National University)
  

Co-ordinator:
Dr. Yutaka Sato (Office of International Initiatives)

Aim of the workshop

The aim of this workshop was to provide tips for materializing a short-term overseas visit and maximizing the result for developing an academic career. Despite the growing opportunities for young researchers to go overseas on a short-term basis, information on this is not readily available, as compared to exchange and degree programs which are 'established' routes for overseas study.

This workshop invited five guest speakers who visited overseas institutions for research on a short-term basis during their PhD studies at Hitotsubashi University. Their lectures focused mainly on the following:

1. Correspondence with the host researchers and institutions, as well as local assistants and informants for data collection.
2. Strategies for undertaking data collection and building further research networks during a short-term stay.
3. Maximizing the results of short-term visits for publications, expansion of academic networks and further overseas visits.

The workshop was open to all postgraduate students and postdoctoral fellows (inclusive of junior fellows) in all Graduate Schools.

Program

Day 1

16.20–16.30	Introduction Yutaka Sato (Hitotsubashi University): 'The Young Researcher Overseas Visit Program: an introduction'
16.30–17.30	Panel 1 1. Hiroyuki Fukuchi (Hitotsubashi University): 'Making the most of short-term research overseas: from my experience in the US' 2. Kazuya Wada (University of Tokyo): 'My experience of doing fieldwork in rural Kenya and postdoctoral research in Norway'
17.30–18.00	Q&A session

Day 2

16.20–16.30	Introduction Yutaka Sato (Hitotsubashi University): 'The Young Researcher Overseas Visit Program: an introduction'
16.30–18:00	Panel 2 1. Taihei Okada (Seikei University): 'Benefits and limitations of short-term study overseas: from my own experience' 2. Shin'ichi Horikawa (Daitobunka University): 'Making the most of short-term legal research in Germany: from data collection to network-building' 3. Chiho Ogaya (Yokohama National University): 'Doing fieldwork in the Philippines as an "unconventional" experience of study overseas'
18.00–18.10	Break
18.10–18.50	Q&A session

Feedback on the Workshop

In total, 26 participants attended the workshop on Day 1 and 11 attended on Day 2.

Twenty-two participants responded to the workshop questionnaire on Day 1, and 8 responded on Day 2, making a total of 30 responses. The workshop was well received by all the participants. A summary of the responses is provided below.

Questionnaire

1. Were you satisfied with the content of this workshop?
2. What did you find most satisfactory/unsatisfactory about the workshop?
3. What new things did you learn through the workshop?
4. What additional topics would you suggest for future workshops?

Summary of responses

1. Satisfaction with the workshop content:
   Eighteen respondents were 'very satisfied', 11 were 'satisfied' and 1 rated it as 'average'.
2. Most satisfying aspect:
   - The template of an email for correspondence with the host institution was useful.
   - A number of useful examples of short-term study overseas; such information is not provided by friends and colleagues.
   - The talk on planning fieldwork and preparing a research proposal was useful.
   - The experience of young scholars from other disciplines visiting overseas was interesting. A speaker who is not so competent in English but nevertheless managed to study overseas should be invited to a workshop of a similar kind in the future.
   - The detailed talk on the benefits of a short-term overseas visit helped to picture how such a visit can be made.
   - Learning about the Young Researcher Overseas Visit Program.
3. Future use of skills learnt:
   - Importance of preparing a research proposal, etc. well in advance.
   - Practical knowledge of how and when to communicate with the host researcher and institution and how to write an email in English.
   - Importance of building academic networks.
   - Importance of short-term overseas visits as part of one's academic life.
4. Additional topics for future workshops:
   - Provision of further information on scholarships and grants available for short-term study overseas.
   - A workshop on short-term overseas visits in theory-based, non-empirical research.
   - A workshop on surviving academic life overseas, including how to write a thesis and obtain a PhD.
   - A workshop on developing a research proposal for a grant application.

Outcomes and lessons learnt

• The workshop was attended by many Master's students but did not attract so many PhD students and postdoctoral fellows, who claim to be always busy. Improvements need to be made in the way of announcing workshops, e.g. email announcements via the mailing lists of their supervisors or research units.
• The workshop was the first of its kind to have guest speakers from outside the university. The experiences they shared with us during the workshop were invaluable. It is pertinent that we will continue to hold workshops of a similar kind during and beyond the term of the YROVP.
• Many thanks are due to the following administrative staff at the International Affairs Division for their logistic support: Mr. Tatsuyuki Shimada, Mr. Mikio Takatori and Mrs. Keiko Hokada.