9. Afternoon Colloquium
The “Afternoon Colloquium” is originally designed to freely discuss various topics provide by
reputed scholars and specialists in Japan and overseas, which are not limited to scientific area. The
objectives are as follows.
1. Acquiring a comprehensive knowledge and develop fundamental competencies throughdiscussion on various issues
2. Developing critical thinking skills, in particular, to address various issues, based on logicalanalysis of the information given in the class and own consideration of them.
3. Enhancing communication skill and cultivating skills to express logically and clearly own
opinions about current global issues in a paper or in discussion.
From the academic year of 2014, the students who participate in Afternoon Colloquium ten times
in total and submit a report each could get 2 credits for Social Systems (III). In 2016, this rule wasrevised to reduce the students’ burden and they could get the credits after making ten attendance
without submission of the reports. Moreover, since 2017, Afternoon Colloquium has been canceled
due to the revision of the curriculum, which aimed to reduce the students’ tasks and provide themsufficient time to do research. For the students who have attended Afternoon Colloquium less than tentimes until 2016, a substitutional occasion called “Lunch Chat” was provided. The students talk about
various topics such as progress of their research, daily experiences, and current affairs with otherstudents and the Green Asia professors. They could get the credits for Social Systems (III) when they
participate in Afternoon Colloquium and Lunch Chat ten times in total.
Afternoon Colloquium conducted in the academic year of 2016 is listed in Table 4-15.

DateApril
13May27

June3June10

Table 4-15. Afternoon Colloquium in AY 2016
PresenterTopic
Chi-Wi Ong, Professor
Folk medicine – myth orDepartment of Chemistry, National Sun Yatalchemy or chemistry
Sen University, Taiwan
Wilson Siguemasa Iramina, Professor
Blast-induced ground
Mining and Petroleum Engineering
vibration: attenuation
Department, Polytechnic School ofmodeling approaches
University of Sao Paulo
Takashi Sasaoka, Associate Professor
Mine Planning andDepartment of Earth Resource Engineering, Equipment Selection
Faculty of Engineering, Kyushu University
Mitsugu Todo, Associate Professor
Application of CT-imageRenewable Energy Center, Research Institute based computer simulation tofor Applied Mechanics, Kyushu University
orthopedic bone problems
Yves Gagnon, Professor
Renewable energy for a
Université de Moncton, Canada
sustainable future

87

CampusChikushi

ItoChikushi

ChikushiDate
June24
July
8

July
29
August26

September
30
October
14

October
21

November
8

November
25

November
30
December
16
January
10

Table 4-15. Afternoon Colloquium in AY 2016 (continued)
Presenter
Topic
Reiji Hattori, Professor
Advanced display
Advanced Project Division, Global
technologies used in a smart
Innovation Center, Kyushu Universityphone
Hiroshi Tashima, Associate Professor
History and culture ofDepartment of Advanced Environmental
Japanese automotive
Science and Engineering, Faculty ofindustries
Engineering Sciences, Kyushu University
Sengpasith Houngaloune, Dr.
Potential of mineral
Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of resources and mining
Engineering, National University of Laos
activities in Laos
Jin Miyawaki, Associate Professor
Carbon materials for energy
Department of Advanced Devise Materials,and environmental
Institute for Materials Chemistry andapplications
Engineering, Kyushu University
Student Session in the Three Leading Graduate School Program Joint
Fieldwork (IV. 7.3)
Yoshiaki Takahashi, Associate Professor
Toward the molecular
Department of Advanced Devise Materials,
characterization of natural
Institute for Materials Chemistry andpolymers insoluble intoEngineering, Kyushu University
ordinary solvents
Takeshi Nakagawa, Associate Professor
Small, but strong magnet:
Department of Advanced Materials Sciencenanoscale magnetismand Engineering, Faculty of Engineering
Sciences, Kyushu University
Yuji Ohya, Professor
Highly efficient harnessing
Division of Renewable Energy Dynamics,
system of fluid energies
Research Institute for Applied Mechanics,
using wind-lens technology
Kyushu University
Md. Zakir Hossain, Associate Professor
Graphene – the material forInternational Research and Educationnext generation technology
Center for Element Science, Graduate Schoolof Science and Engineering, GunmaUniversity
The 3rd International Symposium of Integrated Research and Education
Center for Energy Conversion, Storage, Saving, and Transport Technologies
Kazuo Arakawa, Professor
Topic for dynamic friction
Renewable Energy Center, Research Institutefor Applied Mechanics, Kyushu University
Jun Tanimoto, Professor
Report on staying at Max
Department of Advanced Environmental
Planck Institute for
Science and Engineering, Faculty ofEvolutionary Biology, Plön,
Engineering Sciences, Kyushu University
Germany88

CampusChikushi

ItoItoChikushi

Chikushi
Chikushi

Chikushi

ChikushiChikushi

Chikushi
Chikushi

ChikushiPhoto 4-18. Afternoon Colloquium (November 25, 2016).

10. Qualifying Examination (1st Stage Gate)
The Green Asia Program employs the five-level stage gate system to ensure the equality of thegraduate program, and students are required to pass each stage gate to advance to the next stage. The
first stage gate is the qualifying examination to start a doctoral research, which is set in the end of the
2nd year of the 5-years program (see II. 2.3 and IV. 1.2). It is scheduled in the same time period ofmaster defense. In 2017, the rule for the schedule was revised, and if a student has met the specified
requirements described below, he or she can take the examination half year ahead of the regularschedule (called “Early QE”). The purpose is to start his or her research work for doctoral thesis assoon as possible, but he or she can earn his or her master’s degree at the end of 2nd year.
The contents of the qualifying examination are deeper and harder than the usual master defense.
The detail contents are summarized below. The candidate must acquire 40 or more compulsory
subjects, whereas general requirement to receive master degree in regular course is 30 or more credits.
In addition, the GPA has to be 3.0 or more. The student who fulfill the requirement for the credit makes
presentations about activities for Fundamental Research (I) to (III) in the Laboratory Rotations and forPractice School. He or she also takes a short essay examination and a written examination about hisor her specialty. The students who complete all of the requirements above can get through thequalifying examination and go on to the next 3 years (latter 3 years of the 5-years program) as theGreen Asia course student.
The examinations were conducted as follows: for the 3rd batch international students on August
30 and 31, 2016, for the 4th batch domestic students on February 8, 2017, for the 4th batch
international students on August 18 and 19, 2017, and for the 5th batch domestic students on February
6, 2018. According to the revised rule for the schedule mentioned above, 2 international students outof 14 in the 5th batch took the examination on February 6 (half year ahead of the regular schedule),
and the examination for the remaining 11 students (excluding 1 student) was conducted on August 20
and 21, 2018. The results are shown in Tables 4-16~4-20.

89

Criteria to take the qualifying examination
The students have to acquire 40 credits or more including the following components before theend of the 2nd year.
(1) Practical English: 3 or more credits (1 credit for each one)(2) Industrial Systems: 3 or more credits (1 credit for each one)(3) Internship: 2 credits for Practice School(4) Research: 6 credits for Laboratory Rotation (2 credits for each one)(5) Social, Environmental, and Economic Systems: 10 or more credits in total (2 credits for eachone)(6) Main and sub-specialties: 16 credits or more
Criteria to pass the qualifying examination(1) Earning 3.0 or more GPA(2) Earning a specified evaluation of the presentation for Fundamental Researches (LaboratoryRotation)(3) Earning a specified evaluation of the presentation for Practice School(4) Passing a short essay examination(5) Passing a written examination about a specialty
Table 4-16. Result of the Qualifying Examination for the 3rd Batch International StudentsDepartment
StudentExaminee
PassApplied Science for Electronics and Materials1222Molecular and Materials Sciences1222
Energy and Environmental Engineering1222
Earth Resources Engineering2333Total
9991
Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Sciences; 2Graduate School of Engineering
Table 4-17. Result of the Qualifying Examination for the 4th Batch Domestic Students
Department
Student
Examinee
Pass
Applied Science for Electronics and Materials1000
Molecular and Materials Sciences1111
Energy and Environmental Engineering1000
Earth Resources Engineering2111Total
2221
Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Sciences; 2Graduate School of Engineering
Table 4-18. Result of the Qualifying Examination for the 4th Batch International Students
Department
Student
Examinee
Pass
Applied Science for Electronics and Materials1433
Molecular and Materials Sciences1333
Energy and Environmental Engineering1222Earth Resources Engineering2111Total
10991
Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Sciences; 2Graduate School of Engineering

90

Table 4-19. Result of the Qualifying Examination for the 5th Batch Domestic Students
Department
Student
Examinee
Pass
Applied Science for Electronics and Materials1111
Molecular and Materials Sciences1000
Energy and Environmental Engineering1222Earth Resources Engineering2111Total
4441
Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Sciences; 2Graduate School of Engineering
Table 4-20. Result of the Qualifying Examination for the 5th Batch International StudentsDepartmentStudentExaminee
PassApplied Science for Electronics and Materials1888Molecular and Materials Sciences1
333Energy and Environmental Engineering1
100
Earth Resources Engineering2
222Total
1413131
Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Sciences; 2Graduate School of Engineering

Photo 4-19. Presentations in the Qualifying Examination.

Feedback Meeting
After the assessment meeting for the qualifying examination, each student was interviewed by
the Green Asia Center faculty members about his or her impression and demand for the past two-years

91course work in the Green Asia Program, and future plans and hopes. A part of the comments wasconsidered when rules of the program were revised.

11. Research Review and Proposal (2nd Stage Gate)
Every student in the first semester of the 3rd year of the Green Asia Program (in the 1st year ofdoctoral course) has to pass “Research Review and Proposal” as the 2nd stage gate. This involves (1)writing a paper comprehensively reviewing reported findings that are related to the student’s doctor
thesis, (2) writing his or her research proposal, and (3) making an oral preparation about them. Thepapers on the Research Review and Proposal are expected to be used for introduction of the doctor
thesis. The students who pass the Research Review and Proposal earn 2 credits for “Doctoral Research(I)”.
(1) Research Review
The review should be written as an article of 4000 words or more, in which at least 50 references
are cited.
(2) Research Proposal
Based on the review, each student proposes his or her new ideas and concepts for the doctoral
research as an article of 2,000 words or more, which should consist of several components such as apurpose, significance, methods, expected findings, and plans. It is also recommended to submit theproposal to the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) research fellowship for young
scientist, supported by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, Japan(MEXT).
(3) Oral Presentation
In principle, oral presentation about the Research Review and Proposal is scheduled in the endof the first semester in the 3rd year of the program (the 1st year of doctoral course). Each student has
25 minutes in total (15 minutes for presentation and 10 minutes for discussion).
The 3rd to 5th batch students in the Green Asia Program faced the Research Review and Proposal
in the academic years from 2016 to 2018 (Table 4-21 and Photo 4-20), and all of them passed.

92

Table 4-21. Schedule of the Research Review and Proposal
Batch
DatePresenter
3rd Batch domestic
September 12, 20161
September 21, 20167
3rd Batch international
March 30, 2017
8April 25, 20171
4th Batch domestic
October 4, 20172
4th Batch international
March 30, 20187
5th Batch domestic
September 27, 20183
December 21, 20181
5th Batch international
September 27, 20182
December 21, 2018
8March 12, 20192

Photo 4-20. Oral presentation of the Research Review and Proposal.

93