J. Jpn. Soc. Soil Phys.
土壌の物理性No. 144, p.57 ∼ 58 (2020)

Experiences as a PhD student in JapanCa NGUYEN THI1

Studying in Japan was my dream when I was young. Inorder to make my dream come true, I decided that I had
to try to study well. Fortunately, I received MEXT scholarship that was supported by Japanese Government. Thisbrought me a good opportunity to pursue Doctoral course
at Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The
University of Tokyo. After three-year research, I got PhD
degree on 18 December 2018 (Fig. 1). It was the ﬁrst timein my life that I had been to Japan. I was overwhelmed withmany beautiful landscapes. I had chances to see Sakura
blossom and Fuji mountain that I had never seen before.
The beauty was not only from the nature but also from theJapanese culture and people. It would be hard to feel if I
had never been there.

Fig. 2 Outdoor activities with my laboratory friends.

Three years brought me unforgettable memories withwonderful experiences. Many activities such as Japaneseinternational students who could help me widen my knowl-

Society of Soil Physics (JSSP) conference at Kyoto

edge. Furthermore, I had spent precious time for outdoor

University, Japan Geoscience Union Meeting (JpGU) inactivities with my laboratory friends (Fig. 2). This could

Makuhari Messe of Chiba, and Study Trip were impressed.

help us understand each other and save unforgettable mem-Thanks to this, I had good chances to communicate withories.
Agricultural soils are gradually degraded in Viet Nam
because of overdose of chemical fertilizers onto the soils.
This leads soils to be low pH and soil aggregate degradation.

Therefore, I desired to ﬁnd the better way toameliorate quality of Vietnamese agricultural soils. This
could help enhance the quality and quantity of agricultural products, bringing good health to customers as wellas good income to farmers. In addition, reuse of agricultural by-products helps to reduce environmental pollution. These issues motivated me to pursue the research onsoil improvement using agricultural by-products such asFig. 1 Doctoral Graduation Ceremony at
the University of Tokyo.
1 Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Graduate

School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 11-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku Tokyo 113-8657, Japan.
2019 年 12 月 20 日受稿 2020 年 2 月 21 日受理

chicken manure and chicken eggshell. In Mekong region,combination of gardening, ﬁsh-raising, and poultry-raisingcalled VAC integrated system is a popular farm management. Therefore, chicken manure and eggshell produced
as wastes are essential to be recycled.

58

土壌の物理性 第 144 号

Laboratory incubation was conducted to measure CO2(2020)

get success under our efforts in the future.

emission, soil pH, and aggregate stability upon application

Now, I am working as an ofﬁcial and a teacher at Caof amendments. In this method, soils and either or both

Mau Community College, Ca Mau City, southernmost parteggshell and chicken manure were mixed and put into aof Viet Nam. In the college, I have some classes for train-glass bottle. Interestingly, I got good results that were use-

ing farmers who want to grow Reishi (霊芝), a kind offul for farmers who would like to improve their soils. As

mushroom (Fig. 3). Although, my job is different withthe result, using both chicken manure and eggshell could

what I have learned at The University of Tokyo and Can

bring positive effects not only on soil pH but also on ag-

Tho University, I feel happy to help farmers to earn theirgregate stability. In addition, a combination of chicken

income and to improve their lives. However, I hope I have amanure and eggshell could enhance microbial activity con-chance to do more researches on soil physics in Viet Nam.

tributing to decomposition of organic matter. This in-Kitchen wastes are discharged and thrown away. They arevolved aggregate stability, where organic compounds pro-less recycled in Mekong region. I hope I will have a goodproject to make them as a compost that can be applied to

duced from decomposition of chicken manure by microorganisms could enhance soil particle cohesion and thus
stabilized soil aggregates.

soils, and to assess their effects on soil physical properties.

Three years were a difﬁcult time for me to adapt newenvironment and to do research. My biggest obstacle wasJapanese language that I did not know much. During research process, I had to work hard, almost whole day fordoing experiment. It would not be overcome easily without efforts and willpower. Finally, I had fulﬁlled my research. More importantly, I am honored to gain “PaperAward of 2019” from Japanese Society of Soil Physics(JSSP) for the paper of “Effects of soil amendments on
pH and aggregate stability of saline sodic soil and acid sulfate soil in Mekong Delta Viet Nam” which was studied
by corresponding authors: Ca Thi NGUYEN, Shoichiro
HAMAMOTO and Taku NISHIMURA and published on
30 November 2018. To gain this achievement, my deepest
gratitude would like to be sent to my supervisor, Professor Taku Nishimura, who gave me a hand enthusiasticallyduring three-year research. I want to send international students a message that the efforts and willpower are the keys
to succeed. I believe that all of us can pass difﬁculties andFig. 3 Reishi (霊芝) .