Every year, all students in the NIMS Graduate Program are required to participate in the student seminar—an annual event where we present the results of our research from that year.
The only students exempt from presenting are third-year doctoral students, since they usually serve as facilitators.

December 2020 was my first time participating as a presenter.
I presented the research I had been working on since April.

My research topic at that time was “Photothermal Heating and Heat Transfer Analysis of Anodic Aluminum Oxide with High Optical Absorptance.”
Simply put, we studied how to improve heating efficiency by controlling the pore size of anodic aluminum oxide. The experiments were quite long and exhausting, especially during the fabrication stage because the process involved multiple steps that had to be done in sequence. Since the explanation is rather lengthy, I’ll write the technical details on a separate page so this section doesn’t become too heavy.

Even though this seminar is just an annual routine, the preparation can be very draining—not because of making the presentation slides, but because of the struggle to produce “promising” results and organize them into clear graphs and tables.
Every time the student seminar approached, the pressure always crept in. I worried whether my research results were good enough, whether the reviewers would be satisfied, and the most stressful question of all: would my results be enough for my research contract to be extended for the next year?

Every year, we were reminded of the same sentence:

“The results of this seminar will be considered for next year’s contract renewal.”

The sentence sounds simple, but it is enough to make anyone think hard.
For international students like me, contract renewal is extremely important—not only for continuing research, but also for tuition and daily living expenses.
But in reality, by the end of my fifth year at NIMS, my contract had always been renewed.
Sometimes I wonder—was the pressure coming from NIMS, from my supervisor, or from myself?
Some of my friends once told me that NIMS would not terminate contracts before a student graduates. But for some reason, the anxiety always returned whenever the seminar season came.

The presentation itself is short—only 10 minutes, plus 5 minutes for Q&A.
But the preparation can take months.
Usually starting in September, I would think about the same things every year:

• “What results can I present this time?”
• “Is my data convincing enough?”
• “Will the reviewers be satisfied or question everything?”

Then the seminar day finally arrived.
We students presented one by one, starting with second-year doctoral students, followed by first-year doctoral students, then second-year master’s students, and lastly first-year master’s students.
Since I was a first-year master’s student, I had to wait until the very last session.
The nerves never went away—in fact, they grew stronger as my turn approached.

Once my presentation was over, I felt incredibly relieved—finally, it was done.
I think it helped that I received fairly positive feedback, especially suggestions on how to improve my research in the next stage.
It felt like a big burden lifted—at least for that day.

The following year, 2021, became a much tougher chapter in my academic journey.
But it was also a year full of lessons and growth.
I will continue the story on the next page.

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