2011 Reverse NanoJapan Program at Rice
UniversityIn response to the Japanese earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear
power crisis, we decided to not sponsor the summer education
program in Japan. The decision was based on several factors
affecting conditions in Japan during the summer of 2011 including
uncertainty over the nuclear situation and the impact that energy
conversation efforts might have on our research host labs in Japan.
We designed an alternative summer research program, “Reverse NanoJapan,” to take place at Rice
University and invited our Japanese colleagues at universities affected by the recent events to send
their students to Houston to continue their work. A total of 14 American students and 25 Japanese
students were selected to participate in the program. Teams of U.S. and Japanese students wereassigned to host research labs at Rice University and worked collaboratively on a research project.
Research projects were concerned with the growth, fabrication, and characterization of nanostructuresand nanomaterials, especially carbon-based nanomaterials such as graphene and carbon nanotubes.
The program showed that our team can work quickly together to develop an innovative and highly
regarded alternative program in the wake of the 3/11 disaster in Japan. Rice University faculty andvisiting TeraNano PIRE research collaborators also presented a weekly seminar series on Terahertz
Dynamics in Nanostrcutures to introduce both U.S. and Japanese participants to this emerging researcharea.
Intensive Japanese Language Course: In order to introduce Japanese
language and culture, the U.S. NanoJapan undergraduates participated in a
two-week on-campus intensive Japanese language class (May 30 – June 10).
Students completed 3 hours of Japanese language instruction per day, asimilar structure to the Japanese language classes offered to students during
the NanoJapan orientation program in Tokyo. The beginning class was taught
by Chihiro Aoki, an instructor hired on a contract basis from SUNY Buffalo. Prof. Mitsuaki Shimojo
taught the intermediate class. At the end of the two-week program, Shimojo taught weekly language
instruction with all of the students via an online distance learning system developed by Rice University,
Big Blue Button. The system allowed for live interactive video/audio webcast and screen sharing
between instructor and students.
NanoJapan ESL Course: During the first two weeks of the NanoJapan – U.S.
Program, the Japanese participants completed an ESL Conversation Course
taught by Aoki, who received her MS in TESOL from SUNY Buffalo. Thiscourse enhanced the Japanese student’s spoken English and theirconfidence in using English on a daily basis. Over the course of the twoweek period the Japanese students completed 30 hours of ESL instruction.

The NanoJapan Program is jointly administered by Rice University and the University of Tulsa and is funded by a
NSF Partnerships for International Research and Education grant (OISE- 0968405).

NanoJapan – U.S. Education & Culture Program: We drew from resourcesin Houston’s Japanese community, including those provided by theConsulate General of Japan in Houston. The aim of the culture program
was to encourage an active exploration of US and Japanese culture, withspecific emphasis on skills required for working as part of cross-culturalresearch teams. A wide range of cultural activities were also organized for2011 Reverse NanoJapan participants. Many events were sponsored by theJapanese Consulate of Houston, Showing Japan, and the Rice Office ofInternational Students and Scholars. NanoJapan students also built aNagashi Somen Machine that Rice University will continue to utilize atcampus and university evens sponsored by organizations such as theJapanese Association of Greater Houston or Japan-America Society ofHouston.
Housing: The Japanese and U.S. students lived together in the Rice
University Graduate Apartments, fostering informal interactions among all
program participants. Rice University contributed $25,000 towards thecost of summer housing for the Japanese participants in the NanoJapan
program. This provided full funding of housing costs for twelve out oftwenty-five of the Japanese students.
Rice Quantum Institute Summer Research Colloquium: The capstone
experience of NanoJapan – U.S. was a presentation at the Rice Quantum
Institute (RQI) Summer Research Colloquium, which highlights the best ofundergraduate and graduate research at Rice University in areas relating toquantum phenomena. Undergraduate participants presented topicalresearch posters and graduate student participants gave oral talks relating
to their TeraNano PIRE research. In preparation for participation in thissymposium, students practiced their presentation skills and completed
poster development workshops with support from the School ofEngineering’s Professional Communication faculty. This symposiumincluded a wrap-up program for NanoJapan students that addressedintegrating the international research experience into their academic andcareer plans.
Future Opportunities: Though unplanned, the 2011 Reverse NanoJapan experience proved to be a greatsuccess. The Rice University community and the Japanese community within Houston came together tosupport engagement with the best aspects of nanoscience research and inter-cultural education andexchange between U.S. and Japanese researchers. The program was rated very highly by both Japaneseand U.S. participants and should funding become available, Rice University would welcome theopportunity to again organize a similar summer research program for visiting Japanese students. For
more information on NanoJapan or the TeranNano PIRE research project please see
http://nanojapan.rice.edu/ or email terananopire@rice.edu.
The NanoJapan Program is jointly administered by Rice University and the University of Tulsa and is funded by a
NSF Partnerships for International Research and Education grant (OISE- 0968405).