Event

On Tuesday, September 9, 2025, Kyushu University held the Kyushu University Forum, ‘KYUDAI NOW Ulaanbaatar,’ at the Soyombo Hall of the Best Western Premier Tuushin Hotel in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. This forum aims to share our latest research achievements with local and international communities, promote academic exchange, and strengthen the bonds within our alumni network. This marked the second KYUDAI NOW event in Mongolia, drawing a crowd of nearly 100 participants, including alumni, former and prospective students, and academic affiliates.

The opening session began with remarks from Prof. Iwata Kenji, Executive Vice President of Kyushu University. We were honored to have guest speeches from H.E. Dr. Bayarmaa Nyamdoo, Justice of Supreme Court of Mongolia, and H.E. Mr. Igawahara Masaru, Ambassador of Japan to Mongolia. Following the speeches, Associate Professor Qian Kun from the Kyushu University Institute for Asian and Oceanian Studies (Q-AOS) gave an introduction to Kyushu University and Q-AOS. The forum then proceeded with two sessions, where faculty members presented their latest research findings.

Session I covered a wide range of topics relevant to Mongolian society, spanning the fields of law, agriculture, and medical and life sciences. Professor Tokumoto Minoru, Dean of the Faculty of Law, delivered a lecture on the features of commercial law in Japan. Professor Nakayama Jiro from the Faculty of Agriculture spoke about the Asian gut microbiome, linking food and health. Following this, from the Faculty of Medical Sciences, Assistant Professor Lkhagvasuren Battuvshin presented his latest research findings on Long COVID, and Professor Hikita Naoko discussed the health of pregnant women in Mongolia.

During the coffee break, five students — Liu Xianyu (D3, Graduate School of Medical Sciences) , Airi Fukuhara (M2, Graduate School of Medical Sciences), Shunta Tanaka (M1, Graduate School of Engineering), Ayumu Ichinose (M2, Graduate School of Engineering), Kosei Hata (B3, Undergraduate, School of Interdisciplinary Science and Innovation), and— held a poster session, actively answering questions from attendees.

Session II focused on research related to infrastructure and information science. Associate Professor Yoo Sunbin from the Faculty of Engineering discussed the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of high-speed rail and shared bicycles. Assistant Professor Honda Hiroyuki, also from the Faculty of Engineering, presented on next-generation infrastructure management utilizing AI and digital twins. The session concluded with a presentation by Associate Professor Brian Kenji Iwana from the Faculty of Information Science and Electrical Engineering on the challenges in time series recognition.

To conclude the forum, Dr. Sarangerel Batbayar, Representative of the Alumni of Kyushu University in Mongolia and a senior lecturer at the National University of Mongolia, and Professor Shimizu Shuji, Vice President of Kyushu University, delivered closing remarks. The subsequent reception provided an excellent opportunity for participants to deepen their exchanges in a warm and friendly atmosphere.

On the following day, Wednesday, September 10, the Kyushu University delegation paid courtesy visits to the Mongolian University of Science and Technology (MUST) and the National University of Mongolia (NUM). They met with MUST Vice President Badmaanyambuu Ranjil and NUM President Ochirkhuyag Byanjargal to exchange concrete ideas on future joint research, student exchange possibilities, and university-level agreements, confirming the strengthening of future collaborations.

This KYUDAI NOW event successfully built new networks between researchers and students from our university and Mongolia, and is expected to lead to the further development of academic and personal exchanges in the future.