1:50 PM - 2:05 PM
[U07-01] Case of a visiting PhD student at Utrecht University, the Netherlands
★Invited Papers
Keywords:the Netherlands, Visiting PhD student, JSPS Overseas Challenge Program for Young Researchers
I was visiting Utrecht University (the Netherlands) for 4 months in 2021 for experiments with a unique apparatus there to understand processes of megathrust earthquakes in subduction zones. I was fully vaccinated (two shots) before the start of the visit and got the EU Digital Covid Certificate (DCC) after I received a residence permit. No quarantine was needed after entering NL from Japan in August while 14 days of quarantine was needed (incl. 6 days at an accommodation secured by the Japanese government) after entering Japan from NL in December.
In the first half of the visit, the Dutch government lifted most regulations about social activities and the university started on-site educations and there were few restrictions on lab works. At the end of 2021, however, "hard" lockdown was enforced at the beginning of December because of the spread of the Omicron variant. In the university measures, lab works were possible even during the "hard" lockdown and I was able to keep doing experiments, but almost all educational activities and seminars/meetings were either canceled or held online. I had some opportunities for on-site presentations at a conference and some universities/institutes in other European countries before the spread of the Omicron variant, but in-person discussions were quite limited during the visit. Even so, little or no time difference enabled me to interact with researchers there effectively because time slots of discussion could be flexibly adjusted. Therefore, although discussions would still be mostly online in the coming years, visiting abroad institutes would be valuable for advancing scientific works and those related to dissertations even during the Covid pandemic. In general, it seemed that most research institutes are trying not to stop scientific works but unfortunately, educations were relatively more influenced by Covid situations.
In the presentation, I would like to introduce procedures and situations before, during, and after the visit.
Some information about the visit.
Duration: August to December 2021
Place: Utrecht (NL) and some European countries
Research theme: Seismology, Experimental rock mechanics
Funding scheme: JSPS Overseas Challenge Program for Young Researchers
The scientific part of the visit will be presented in S-SS07 "Fault Rheology and Earthquake Physics."
In the first half of the visit, the Dutch government lifted most regulations about social activities and the university started on-site educations and there were few restrictions on lab works. At the end of 2021, however, "hard" lockdown was enforced at the beginning of December because of the spread of the Omicron variant. In the university measures, lab works were possible even during the "hard" lockdown and I was able to keep doing experiments, but almost all educational activities and seminars/meetings were either canceled or held online. I had some opportunities for on-site presentations at a conference and some universities/institutes in other European countries before the spread of the Omicron variant, but in-person discussions were quite limited during the visit. Even so, little or no time difference enabled me to interact with researchers there effectively because time slots of discussion could be flexibly adjusted. Therefore, although discussions would still be mostly online in the coming years, visiting abroad institutes would be valuable for advancing scientific works and those related to dissertations even during the Covid pandemic. In general, it seemed that most research institutes are trying not to stop scientific works but unfortunately, educations were relatively more influenced by Covid situations.
In the presentation, I would like to introduce procedures and situations before, during, and after the visit.
Some information about the visit.
Duration: August to December 2021
Place: Utrecht (NL) and some European countries
Research theme: Seismology, Experimental rock mechanics
Funding scheme: JSPS Overseas Challenge Program for Young Researchers
The scientific part of the visit will be presented in S-SS07 "Fault Rheology and Earthquake Physics."