Did you know? While many developed countries struggle with boys underperforming in school, Japan faces opposite situation. It's working to boost girls' performance and confidence in STEM subjects. In PISA 2018, Japanese boys outscored girls by 10 points in math. #GenderEquality

At first all I thought was that Japan must've done girls wrong. But now they're also actively supporting women in STEM. So complex situation: challenges, yet opportunities for change. As a researcher here, I'm witnessing this evolution. #WomenInSTEM

Meet our lab's pet, a bichir. Some labs here in my institute have lab pets, unrelated to research, just expressing researchers' hobbies. This cutie loves interacting with people. These add a personal touch, making the workspace feel alive. #LabLife #ScienceInJapan

Reflecting on research in JP vs SG: While gender balance is a challenge here, the environment feels more liberal. Scientists express personalities freely. In SG, research felt like just another job, but here it's a creative space. These small freedoms make a big difference. 🔬🇯🇵

Going to the #NEURO2024 日本神経科学大会in Fukuoka with the lab. No presentation this time, just enjoying my first conference in JP. Anyone? neuro2024.jnss.org

Today feels like Monday after the long weekend. Yesterday was Umi no Hi (海の日), Japan's sea day. But instead of the beach I went "mountain", had a lead climbing trip day ;) Guess: does Japan have a Mountain Day? #UmiNoHi #JapaneseHolidays #ScientistsWhoClimb

FB reminded me that 5 years ago today was my graduation day! So soon I've passed my "early career period" in some parts of the world... But before I "expired," I transferred to Japan, where an "early career researcher" was considered to be within 8 years of graduation. Phew~[1]

But isn't it weird? After PhD we usually hired by someone else's project, still within 5 years we are expected to build up a big project of our own that qualified as"early career" project... especially in some countries (like SG) only very few grants eligible for postdocs[2]

In this sense 8yr cutoff line expresses a more relaxed research spirit. Now, as an early career researcher in this part of the world, I'm waiting for the outcome of my second, but in a way first own, project grant.

Had an incredible time at #NEURO2024 in Hakata! Intensive week with insightful seminars and great networking. As a cognitive neuroscientist in human research, it was fascinating to see parallel approaches in animal studies on similar topics. Now back to my little beast.

And calling all #NEURO2024 attendees! Trying to find the cool fellow female neuroscientist who complimented my top on the last day. We had an awesome chat about how women need bra-free tops. Love our short but 🔥 convo #WomenInSTEM

Having lived in 3-4 different cultures with 3 different languages, what I've learned is that we often don't care about those who don't speak our language. Separate SNS, separate worlds. we don't care about each other's topics. Each world inspires me, but also disappoints.

A major issue: English-speaking world hegemony. Recently realized how English limited my research progress, despite speaking it well for 7+ years. The barrier and non-native speakers' efforts aren't appreciated enough. If AI can do one good thing, I hope it breaks this barrier.