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1. What prompted you decide to participate in the "JSPS Science Dialogue" program?
I learned about Science Dialogue at the JSPS Fellow orientation in Tokyo in October. Knowing about it, I was very excited to accept the invitation to participate that I received this Spring.
2. To what did you give greatest attention in preparing and giving the lecture?
My main focus was on keeping the level of the talk appropriate for the audience, while still illustrating the ideas of mathematical research in a meaningful way.
3. Did you find it difficult to give a lecture in English to Japanese students? Could you give some advice to future lecturers on how to facilitate communication with Japanese students?
The biggest challenge for me was maintaining a slow pace so that my English could be understood by the students. The assistance of my Japanese colleague was very helpful, as he was able to explain more technical points in Japanese.
4. Could you give your impression with regard to participating in this program?
My experience was very positive. The event was very well organized, and it was very enjoyable to participate.
5. Was it meaningful in terms of your fellowship activities?
Although Science Dialogue has no immediate impact on my research activities, I am very happy to bring mathematics into a public discussion. It is useful for the field of mathematics as a whole if students are given many opportunities to learn about what mathematical research is, and how interesting it can be.
6. In what ways do you think the students benefited from the program?
Many people have a misconception that there are no or few unsolved questions in mathematics, or that mathematics is too complicated to be interesting. My hope is that students realize that just the opposite is true - mathematics is full of interesting problems that have not been solved, and we need more mathematicians working on them!
7. Could you give some overall advice or comments to future participants in the program?
I think it is helpful to write key terms or points in Japanese, to aid the students during the talk. I discussed with the teacher in advance about what subjects the students had studied; this was very helpful for me in planning the subject of my presentation.
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