An interview with Tsuyoshi Minami

doi:10.1515/ci-2022-0117

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An interview with Tsuyoshi Minami

Published/Copyright: January 25, 2022

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From the journal Chemistry International Volume 44 Issue 1

Abstract

Professor Tsuyoshi Minami of the University of Tokyo, Japan, is the first person to be awarded the IUPAC Emerging Innovator Award in Analytical Chemistry—an award that recognizes outstanding work undertaken by researchers who are at an early stage of their independent career.

Here he speaks with Vera Koester of ChemistryViews about his current research based on analytical and supramolecular chemistry, and how internationality and interdisciplinarity shaped him.

You have worked in the US, in the UK, and also, of course, in Asia. Did you experience differences between the people or in the labs?

Yes, during my Ph.D. I studied at the University of Bath in the UK as a visiting research student. Later, I was a postdoc and research assistant professor at Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH, USA.

Coming to the UK was the first time I was outside of Japan, so it was exciting coming from what is maybe a rather isolated island to this European island. Especially in the US, it was very international with students from all around the world. After my research stay in the US, I joined a device laboratory at Yamagata University as an assistant professor. There, I was not among chemists. All discussions took place without chemical structures. It was a tough time for me, but also very inspiring.

Through the precious experience in this device group, I decided to expand my group to further broaden my research field, and because of my international experience, I try to accept international students and researchers in my group at the University of Tokyo.

Currently we are struggling with the coronavirus, but I like to collaborate with colleagues from other universities and I have students from Europe, Asia, the Arabian countries, and the US in my lab. In fact, I am trying to help mix the cultures and integrate different students from different backgrounds and with different mindsets. I believe that such international collaborative research encourages students and young researchers, just as I was encouraged in my thinking in the UK and US.

What role do scientific societies such as the Japanese Chemical Society or IUPAC play in this?

They are very important. IUPAC in particular connects chemists worldwide. The Chemical Society of Japan is involved in IUPAC.

I would say that the Chemical Society of Japan is increasingly opening up to other countries and is becoming more international. Originally, they organized their national conference only in Japanese, but now they have started to include English presentations and sessions. They especially encourage students to present in English. So if foreign scientists want to attend, that is relatively easy now.

Read full interview in ChemistryViews: https://doi.org/10.1002/chemv.202100103

ChemistryViews is the online science news magazine of Chemistry Europe, an organization of 16 European chemical societies. It informs about what is happening in the global chemistry community and has a strong focus on the peo-ple behind the science. It covers new ideas, educates, and entertains.

Online erschienen: 2022-01-25

Erschienen im Druck: 2022-01-01

©2022 IUPAC & De Gruyter. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. For more information, please visit: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

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https://doi.org/10.1515/ci-2022-0117