We have received a report from Leo who has completed his internship in our lab! Thank you very much for your hard work over the 2 months from August to September. 当研究室でのインターンシップを終えたLeoさんから、レポートが届きました！8月から9月までの約2ヶ月間、お疲れ様でした。

In the course of the shortest 2 months of my life from August to September, I had the incredibly valuable opportunity to do an internship at the Ohmori group. I truly believe that many of the hundreds of coincidences and unknowable choices in my life led to this summer. As a first-year bachelor’s student, I had many worries and a few hundred butterflies when I sent the initial application letter to Tomita sensei, I had never worked in a proper optical lab, with the closest parallel being a single 4-hour lab session I did at university. As such, much of what I was going into was new territory for me. However, I can now say that more than ever, I feel that experimental physics and working in a lab is what I want to work towards in the future.

In the interview that followed, I met for the first time my supervisor Lucas, who was an absolute joy to work with for the duration of the internship. I was given homework to preread and so much helpful advice on what I would be doing once I arrived in Okazaki. I worked on 2 main projects in my time in Okazaki, the production of high power pulses and the use of said pulses to characterise nonlinear optical effects, specifically, self phase modulation.

 Throughout the entire onboarding process, as well as during my stay, the admin staff were as helpful and approachable as humanly possible, I really want to thank them wholeheartedly.

The lab itself was an eye opening experience, the atmosphere was incredibly comfortable, where everyone was working on their own incredibly interesting projects but wouldn’t hesitate twice to hear you out or give much needed  and kind advice. Covered and stacked in machines, optical setups, and meticulously labeled specialist equipment, the desks looked like a pandoras box, but I knew not to fear asking a question because everyone was so passionate about their respective setups. The hands off approach to supervision I received in the last 3 weeks of the internship really helped me to hone and sharpen my problem solving skills, used daily for the hours and hours of troubleshooting I did for my setup.

Week after week, we went out to eat, drink and generally experience life outside the lab that Okazaki had to offer. The highlights for me were the farewell parties which meant pulling all the stops out to enjoy a feast. I also learnt a French card game which I will be taking with me to propagate in England.

It has been an inspiring summer that I will be forever grateful for given the chance to experience, and I know I will meet everyone again at some point, either in future conferences or randomly slipping past each other if I ever go to Paris.

Thank you so much for having me!