Professor Yuki Nagao (Materials Chemistry Frontiers Research Area) and his colleagues organized a Japan-Malaysia joint mini-symposium on April 14, 2026, at Universiti Malaysia Pahang AI-Sultan Abdullah (UMPSA), Malaysia. This event was conducted as part of the Young Talents Exchange and Capacity Development Program (Y-tec) under the JST NEXUS initiative.

The symposium was held within the project "Japan-Malaysia Research Hub on Energy Conversion and Storage with Young Researchers Exchange," which aims to promote international collaboration and develop early-career researchers in the field of energy conversion and storage.

Researchers and students from Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah (UMPSA), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), and Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT) participated. 

The program opened with an overview of NEXUS, team structure, and collaboration goals by Professor Nagao, followed by presentations from both Japanese and Malaysian participants. Six presentations were delivered by the Malaysian side, covering topics such as fuel cells, batteries, water electrolysis, biomass and CO₂ conversion, and materials informatics.

From JAIST, Assistant Professor Kentaro Aoki, Professor Noriyoshi Matsumi, Associate Professor Shun Nishimura, and Professor Toshiaki Taniike gave talks. Four master's students (Satomi Gunji, Ryota Segawa, Hiroya Yamanaka, and Takaaki Hasunuma) also presented their research.

The symposium was organized in collaboration with Prof. Ahmad Salihin Bin Samsudin (UMPSA), Prof. Ahmad Azmin Mohamad (USM), Prof. Aishah Abdul Jalil (UTM), Prof. Mohamed Mahmoud Nasef (MJIIT), and Dr. Lee Tian Khoon (UKM).
Through the event, students initiated communication and support in preparation for their upcoming stay at JAIST, and research connections were further strengthened through technical discussions and a laboratory tour at the Pekan campus.

This initiative is expected to enhance the Japan-Malaysia research network and accelerate collaborative research and international co-authored publications. JAIST will continue to promote international collaboration and human resource exchange through the NEXUS Y-tec framework.

For further details, please refer to the JST website.
https://www.jst.go.jp/aspire/nexus/y-tec/en/

Group photo of participants at the Japan-Malaysia Joint Mini-Symposium

April 23, 2026