Eight Vietnamese students of the ninth course students of the Okayama-Hue International Master’s Program, a joint program between Okayama University and Hue University, Vietnam, met on April 26 their sponsor companies that are providing scholarship support to them after their arrival in Japan. In Japanese, they expressed their gratitude to their sponsors for providing them an environment where they can devote themselves to study and described their impressions of Okayama and Okayama University and their enthusiasm for the research and for writing a master thesis.

Under this program, Vietnamese students in environmental and agricultural studies receive education for a year and a half in Vietnam, after which they transfer into the master’s course of the Graduate School of Environmental and Life Science at Okayama University as second-year students and receive their master’s degree upon completing the course. The scholarship is provided by the sponsorship which links the Vietnamese students in a one-on-one relationship with the supporting companies or individuals who endorse the program’s principles.

Attending the ceremonial meeting were Okayama University’s Executive Vice President for International Affairs Hiroshi Kanzaki, and Executive Vice President for Education Hiroshi Sano. The sponsors provided words of encouragement, saying, “We think you will find research arduous, but we hope you will visit many places in Okayama, interact with many people, and serve as a bridge between Japan and Vietnam after your return home, telling people there about the good things in Okayama. Please take care of your health and do your best during your year here.”