The 2nd Forum for International Students (FIS) was held at the auditorium of Kuzuha Campus on July 24. The forum is held to encourage students to develop their skills in international academic exchange. In this event, graduate school students, undergraduate students, students of Dental Hygienist School, and visiting students from Asia made presentations about their research, school life, and universities in English.

Chairman and President Takayoshi Kawazoe was the chairperson of FIS this year. Prof. Matsumoto, who is the director of the International Academic Exchange Division, was the vice-chairperson. The International Academic Exchange Division managed this event. Two ODU students hosted this event. In addition, ten international students from China, nine students of the School of Dentistry, and three students of the Faculty of Health Sciences were involved as volunteer staff. We were excited to see this increase of student support.
A total of twenty-seven students and five faculty from sister schools (Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Southern Medical University, Sichuan University, Peking University, Shanxi Medical University and Kunming Medical University) participated. Five of these students made presentations at the auditorium. Further, this forum has been supported by Sakura Science Plan of the Japan Science and Technology Agency.

The program started at 1:00 p.m., with opening remarks by Chairman and President Takayoshi Kawazoe. He first thanked the cooperation of six partner universities from China. He continued, "I wish that through this FIS, which is held to encourage exchange among international students, both Japanese and Chinese students exchange opinions and information, and learn about each other. I hope this will become an opportunity to expand your career choices for the future."

The first speaker was Akari Okamoto who is a 5th year student of the school of Dentistry of ODU. She talked confidently in English about her research she worked on in her 3rd and 4th years. Following her presentation, five students from five universities in China, two students of the School of Dentistry of ODU, four graduate school students (including two international students) of ODU and one student of the Dental Hygienist School gave their presentations confidently in fluent English.

There were a total of 425 people in the audience (1st year students of the School of Dentistry, students of the Faculty of Health Sciences, graduate school students, students of the Dental Hygienist School, faculty members, and visitors from the six universities of China). The following are some remarks from the audience: "The contents of the presentations were very professional. I learned the importance of international exchange. I want to make my own presentation on the same stage in the near future." "I want to visit universities introduced in the presentations someday." Students from China, who presented today, said, "I was very nervous because I had to make a presentation in front of many people, but it was a good experience for me." "I could learn a lot from presentations by graduate students." One of the participants commented, "I was inspired by the presentation by a student of the Dental Hygienist School." Many students of our university praised the English skills of the Chinese students.
At the end, Chairman and President Kawazoe presented certificates to each speaker.

After the forum, a reception was held at the university cafeteria. The ODU traditional Japanese music club performed live music to welcome the Chinese guests. Both Japanese and Chinese students had a friendly chat about many topics such as, dental education of Japan and China, dental health care system and everyday life.