6. Joint Research with Postgraduate Students There is another point I would like to emphasize regarding our research approach. We have asked postgraduate students, both Japanese and Thai, to play an active part as members of the project. We are not asking them to join simply to cover for busy instructors who cannot stay in the study areas for long. There is a more proactive reason. The data collected by the students themselves will form the building blocks for their future careers. Seeing real things and meeting real people are sources of immense information and imagination. I believe that life is most enjoyable when you have refreshing surprises and are confronted with fundamental doubts. In my own case, I first experienced research overseas when I was a doctoral student. Back then, it was not common for postgraduate students to have the opportunity to conduct research abroad. The experience still serves me very well.
KONO Yasuyuki |