January 17, 2025
[Student Interview] -Be a Doctor at SOKENDAI.
Bhim Bahadur Biswa × Moutushi Islam/Department of Genetics
Bhim Bahadur Biswa/Interviewee
5th year at the time of interview, School of Life Science, Department of Genetics, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI
- Degree awarded in September, 2024
- 2024 Autumn Morishima Award in September, 2024
- 2024 Autumn Dean's Award in September, 2024
Moutushi Islam /Interviewer
4th year at the time of interview, School of Life Science, Department of Genetics, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI
Moutushi Islam talked with Bhim, who is about to complete a five-year PhD program and will start a new career this fall, about how interesting research is and what it is like to live in Japan as an international student.
Research at NIG, National Institute of Genetics
- What were your specific research projects in the last five years at National Institute of Genetics?

Bhim :At first, I worked on a special strain of mice which were selectively bred for tameness behavior. Mostly the mice are wild and run away, but the mice selectively bred love human contact. My aim was to find out that the gut microbiome like bacteria,archaea※1, fungi※2 or viruses does have any role in changing the behavior when we selectively bred. That was my hypothesis, and with lot of hard work as well as some luck, I was able to get one bacteria called “Limosilactobacillus reuteri”※3 which is actually high in the mice. So what I did was I collected this bacteria, gave it to my controlled mice, thinking it will change behavior and is actually did. So now we are doing field trials in different species like chickens and other animals to check if it actually works with other animals or not.
Exciting parts of research
- What are the things you love to do on your research?
Bhim :I also worked with bioinformatics, so I used to put some analysis overnight and early morning when I woke up I was eager to go and check the result. This is one exciting part I remember. Another exciting part was… I struggled a lot initially and I was not able to get good result as it happens to every PhD student. After lots of ups and downs, the most exciting part came in my third year when I found the bacteria “Limosilactobacillus reuteri” was high. Before that, it was quite depressing but from that time, everything went very nicely.
Life as a PhD student
- Could you share your typical life as a SOKENDAI PhD student? What do you really love to do other than research?
Bhim :I stay in a dormitory provided by NIG. Most of the time, I just go back and forth between the dorm and the lab. Other than that, I play football with my friends here in NIG. I also love to cook, grow tomatoes and other vegetables in my garden. Our research is really long, and it sometimes takes 6,7 months to get one result. But with tomatoes, it comes out in few days after I plant some seeds. It is something to refresh you out, so I do gardening.

Challenges as an international student
- What are the barriers or challenges you faced as an international student? We know that Japan is a culturally enriched and you came from a very different culture. How did you adjust yourself in Japan?
Bhim :The biggest problem was language. I should have actually learned language before coming here. Once you came and started a PhD, it’s very difficult to learn a new language as you spend lots of time with new experiment. The second problem, you should know how that country works, how the system works. Not every country has the same kind of system in terms of research and research funding. In case of Japan, it’s quite convenient because everything is well documented and they explain you quite well that what needs to be done and what should not be done.
Financial support
- What are the financial supports you got for your research?
Bhim :I received three fellowships in different times. First, I was supported by NIG research assistant fellowship. Following that, I applied to one JASSO scholarship. They also funded me for 6 months. After that, a new fellowship program came in at SOKENDAI called SOKENDAI special researcher fellowships. So that actually supported me from last almost 2 years. These three fellowships supported me. There are other fellowships available. The most famous one is MEXT. If you are eager to do PhD in Japan, there are so many ways to get funded.
- As a PhD student, it is very important to attend difference conferences. What was your experience about those conferences, and what about the financial support?
Bhim :I was lucky that I was in SOKENDAI. I got lots of funding to attend different conferences. I started going to conferences from the second year. I attended many Japanese conferences all supported by NIG and SOKENDAI. I also attended two international conferences in my fourth and fifth year, one to Germany and the other to South Africa. Both were supported by SOKENDAI student dispatch program.
After graduation
- Now you are graduated from SOENDAI. What are you going to do after graduation?
Bhim :Immediately after my defense, I started applying to different postdoc positions and got the offer from University of Cambridge. I have already accepted it, and I will be joining them from the end of October. it’s a little different lab. I currently work on behavior and gut microbiome. As a postdoc, I will be mostly working with immunologists because it is immunology lab along with gut microbiome.
Benefit from SOKENDAI
- We actually worked together for life science retreat, you were the head of the organization of life science retreat of SOKENDAI. Would you like to tell a bit more about that event?
Bhim :All the life science institutes of SOKENDAI organize a yearly retreat where four departments get together and present their works as a poster presentation and sometimes oral presentations. SOKENDAI has all institutes spread all over Japan, so it is very difficult to interact with the people of other departments. Life science retreat is very good opportunity to look into researches of other institutes, get suggestions, interact with them and make connections. I just want to add one more thing. As a PhD student, you need personal development. I think this kind of event is a very good opportunity to develop your leadership
- How did you benefit from the course of SOKENDAI?
Bhim :SOKENDAI provides lots of courses in different institutes, so I availed whatever was of my interest. I studied Neurosciences, a little bit of Informatics and a little of Statistics. SOKENDAI provides few courses on-site, so I went to Okazaki to get few courses and learned from them which I needed for my PhD. Other than that, I took most of the courses through ZOOM online.
Life in Japan
- It has been five years you are living in Japan. What is your overall impression about Japan and Japanese culture?
Bhim :It is very easy to assimilate into Japanese culture. They are very welcoming people and I did not have any negative experience. If you mind your own work, nobody will disturb you, nobody will do anything bad to you. I feel Japan is very nice place if you come here for doing PhD and whatever you want to do.
Message to prospective students
- Do you have any suggestion for the prospective students?
Bhim :SOKEDNAI can be a very nice place in terms of doing PhD as well as getting funding. The most important part is to check the PI who you are interested in through SOKENDAI website and approach to the PI. The second thing, do not do PhD just because you are told that it is a next step. Only start doing PhD, if you think that you will enjoy the whole experience and you actually love doing that work.
Message to current students
- What about the current students who are going through this journey of the PhD? What is your suggestion?
Bhim :In terms of research, I feel like SOKENDAI or NIG students are already quite passionate. So, I will not comment much about it. But I feel the most important part, rather than doing research is, how you will tell your research to the public from your area of expertise. SOKENDAI has sufficient course to improve your writing skills, but there is no course to improve your speeches. So, in my case, I joined some other speech club available all over the world which actually helps you to give a proper speech. If you are PhD student, you should learn how to give a speech and how to write for the general audience, not scientific papers.
Terminology
※1 Archaea
Archaea are ancient microbes found in extreme places like hot springs and deep oceans, but some also live in our gut alongside bacteria. They have unique genes and cell structures that help them survive in diverse environments, including our digestive system.
※2 Fungi
Fungi are a unique group of organisms that include mold, yeasts, and mushrooms, and they play important roles in breaking down dead matter and recycling nutrients in nature. Some fungi also live in our gut, where they interact with bacteria and other microbes to support digestion and help maintain a healthy balance in our microbiome.
※3 Limosilactobacillus reuteri
Limosilactobacillus reuteri, formerly known as Lactobacillus reuteri, is a type of bacteria found in the human gut and in foods like curd (yogurt). It helps digestion, improve gut health, and produce natural substances that protect against harmful bacteria.