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| Dr. Dam Hieu Chi |
Going abroad for study is a dream of most Vietnamese students. I was lucky to have a chance to come to Japan for my study after I had finished my high school. After four years in the undergraduate course at the University of Tokyo, I followed the recommendation of my supervisor and moved to Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST) for my Master and Doctor courses. This was one of the critical decisions in my life. In Japan, it is common to think that the University of Tokyo is the best place for studying. Hence, I left the University of Tokyo and came to JAIST with much concern. After coming, different from my worries, I found that living and studying at JAIST were much better than in the University of Tokyo. The living conditions at JAIST are so comfortable for students who want to concentrate deeply on study and research. Instead of spending 2 hours everyday to get to the university and nearly $400 a month for the lowest level apartment in Tokyo, it took me only 2 minutes to get to my laboratory and less than $100 a month for a comfortable room in the dormitory inside the institute. Moreover, when I was in Tokyo, I always felt exhausted from crowds and noise. In contrast, one can be refreshed by the natural and peaceful atmosphere in JAIST and surrounding area, and thus can spend much more time for study and research.
The research environment in JAIST is more than wonderful. For example, an environment that three students can use fully a parallel computing system with 180 Opteron CPUs made me more than surprised. Experiment facilities are also great. JAIST has many experiment facilities for the research of nano science and nano technology, such as High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope (HRTEM), Scan Tunneling Microscope (STM), Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), Molecular Beam Epitaxy System (MBE), Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices (SQUID), and Four Axis X-ray diffraction systems. JAIST is the first independent National Institute for only graduate research and education in science and technology, therefore the scale of JAIST is much smaller than usual national universities in Japan. However, investment from government for JAIST is very large, making the ratio of number of facilities per student in JAIST the highest in the world. With those priorities, JAIST aims at training the excellent scientists and engineers who can work effectively in global settings. Thus, faculty members and students of JAIST are recruited worldwide, creating a campus with a cosmopolitan atmosphere where English is used as a second language.
After my graduation, I got an assistant professorship and continued working in JAIST. With 10 years of experience studying in Japan as an international student and 3 years of experience teaching in Japan, I am trying my best to use my experiences to create opportunities and support Vietnamese students who want to study in Japan. Getting a scholarship for studying in Japan is a hard task for all Vietnamese students. However, in my opinion, deciding where to go and which university at which to study are also important. For the students, it is very hard to imagine and to exactly understand a foreign university with only information obtained from a pamphlet, a brochure, or the ranking position of that university. Now, we have established a friendly community of Vietnamese at JAIST with more than 30 members, and all of us are willing to help you to understand more about JAIST, and to support you after coming here.
With your self confidence and ambition in science, I do believe that JAIST is one of the best places in the world for you to study. |
