Leave A Nest partners with the National Institute of Education to enable cross-disciplinary cooperation for young scientists
Empowering and emboldening talents in science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics (STEAM) is crucial, especially now as we move closer towards a digital future. Cultivating spaces that not only nurture these talents but also foster collaboration across various disciplines is becoming increasingly important as they are necessary components when it comes to spurring innovation and meaningful social impact.
Leave a Nest, a leading science and bridge communication company in Japan founded by a group of science and engineering researchers in 2002, aims to advance science and technology for global happiness. Their core mission is to create value by bridging gaps in science through communication. For years, the organisation has been working on knowledge manufacturing to develop science and technology initiatives that benefit society. The Tsunagu program is initiated by Leave a Nest Co., Ltd. and has gathered subsidiaries in Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines to join forces to bring this program.
In its aim to enable science and technology developments and implement relevant applications to benefit society and realise a better collective future alongside various educational institutions, researchers, and companies that share the same philosophy, Leave a Nest has partnered with the National Institute of Education (NIE), an autonomous institute of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore that is one of the top-ranked institutes globally for education, and is the sole teacher education institute for teachers in Singapore.
Knowledge manufacturing across the business landscape
Leave a Nest works on what they call “Knowledge Manufacturing” with knowledge of science and technology and deploys its relevant applications to benefit society. In collaboration with various companies, educational institutions, and researchers, with a shared philosophy. The organisation focuses on various areas that aim to create businesses and promote projects relating to education development, STEAM talent and research development, as well as research and business linkages for technology transfer and new business creation.
One of its initiatives that embody this mission is the Tsunagu Research Project, an online and hybrid platform to foster rigorous scientific knowledge-sharing in the next generation. The theme for this year’s run is “Natural Resources: Water and Food” which is a familiar topic in the host country Singapore for this year’s program, and which seeks to involve young talents in addressing issues pertaining to resources.
By promoting research collaboration among junior and senior high school students around Asia through an eight-month program, the initiative seeks to harness the power of research, science, and technology. Students from Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore — sites of Leave a Nest’s subsidiaries — will work together to identify issues related to water and natural resources and formulate research that will lead to solutions that address these issues. Leave a Nest is also open to accepting applications from other ASEAN countries.
The youth as catalysts for innovation
This innovation-related program for the youth aims to forge newfound ways of research where students can make a difference in their communities by being involved in hands-on research projects. They will also be benefiting from personalised mentoring, as well as connections to the broader stakeholders in the science and technology ecosystem, including innovative companies and science experts in the region.
This opportunity provides a space to share knowledge and collaborate with other young STEAM leaders in the region, and create meaningful connections with like-minded people.
The program also showcases that STEAM education is not only related to subjects learned in the classroom but can also be a powerful method for applying subject learning to solve real-world challenges. Once the research phase is completed, the knowledge can be shared with educators, and Leave a Nest can create better and more effective programs in the future in collaboration with educational institutions.
Solving real-world problems
Kihoko Tokue, Managing Director of Leave a Nest Singapore, shared with e27 how highly important teamwork and cross-disciplinary cooperation are in research and in STEAM-related education, and how crucial it is to expose talents to this practice early on. “Many of the issues we face nowadays cannot be overcome with just one person or one indsutry working on it. In order for us to have a better chance of overcoming these issues, teamwork and cross-disciplinary collaboration are crucial. Leave a Nest wants to bring NEST (Nature Engineering Science and Technology) to society in the best way possible. Thus, this program should help us provide better and improved programs in the future”.
The Tsunagu Research Project host country for 2023 is Singapore, and students from Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore will be working together to identify environmental resource issues and formulate research that will lead to innovative solutions.
Through this, Tsunagu continues to be a space for research collaboration by junior and senior high school students around Southeast Asia. This collaboration aims to evaluate the effectiveness of STEAM education through the Tsunagu Research Project. With this partnership, the goal to foster scientific thought in the next generation and promote research collaboration by junior and senior high school students around Asia can be bolstered further.
Source: e27
