After a 4-year long interruption due to COVID-19, the annual Hokkaido Indonesian Student Association Scientific Meeting (HISAS) has been revived to its usual on-site-only format for its 18th year. On June 17, 2023, seventy participants gathered attending lectures and joining discussions on “Harmonization of Cutting-Edge Food Research with Ecological and Social Considerations.”
Organized by Indonesian Student Association of Hokkaido (PPI-H), HISAS was first carried out in the year 2001. The annual scientific meeting is open for participation from researchers and students of any background and region of the world.
This year, HISAS was held at Hokkaido University’s School of Agriculture. Three Hokkaido University researchers: Prof. Teruo Sone (Dean of the Graduate School of Global Food Resources), Prof. Noboru Noguchi (Dean of the School of Agriculture), and Assistant Prof. Maria Stefanie Dwiyanti (Research Faculty of Agriculture) welcomed the participants.
“Hokkaido and Indonesia are separated by 6,000 km. Both regions have very distinctive characteristics, but we are gathered here in Sapporo to share knowledge. I hope that, even after this one-day meeting, all of us can have fruitful and productive research in our respective places based on this exchange,” said Dr. Sone in his opening remark.
Participants attended three lectures, respectively delivered by Prof. Teruo Sone, Dr. Sintho Wahyuning Ardie (Associate Professor at IPB University, Indonesia), and Dr. Donald Siahaan (Indonesian Palm Oil Research Institute, Indonesia). The lectures explored the scientific discoveries and the potential applications in food production and were followed by questions and discussion points from different perspectives made by the attendees. The majority of attendees in turn presented their research in the afternoon parallel presentations.
The presentations were divided into three parallel sessions based on the research topic: agriculture, fisheries, and animal sciences. Moderated by the invited experts, the sessions produced knowledge exchange between the young and more experienced researchers. Hagia Sophia Khairani (D2, Graduate School of Global Food Resources), the chairperson of this year’s HISAS, stated that 17 presented abstracts were selected out of 30 submitted abstracts for the sessions.
Dr. Syaiful Rizal is a young researcher from the National Research and Innovation Agency, Indonesia (BRIN) who presented his research on antimicrobial resistance in poultry. “Through international scientific meetings such as HISAS, I hope to gain new insights and networks that can help me, as a BRIN researcher, to produce world-class research,” said Rizal. He acknowledged Hokkaido University’s advanced research in the field of zoonosis, so this was a golden opportunity for Rizal to build connections.
Toward the end of the meeting, Hokkaido University Ambassador Dr. Christofora Hanny Wijaya (Professor at IPB University, Indonesia) gave the last presentation in front of a large audience. As both a researcher in agricultural technology science and the head of Hokkaido University Indonesia Front Office, she explained how the Office serves as a hub for collaborative bio-researchers by stressing the importance of Indonesia-Japan research collaboration.
Two closing remarks delivered respectively by Prof. Ir. Yusli Wardianto, a representative of the Indonesian Embassy in Tokyo; and Daniel Nicocaesar Siahaan (Muroran Institute of Technology), the chairperson of PPI-H. The best presenter award was given to Reira Kato (M1, Graduate School of Global Food Resources).
“This year’s HISAS is rather different in that there are more established researchers participating. Arguably, students have lesser experience in actual research outside the laboratory. So, I hope that HISAS can help shape the students’ expectations,” said Hagia.
