News & Announcements
IUJ Research Pitch Competition 2025: A Night of Ideas, Energy, and Legacy
On Friday, April 11th, the campus came alive with energy, excitement, and fresh ideas as 11 students took the stage for the Research Pitch Competition 2025. Proudly supported by the IUJ Research Institute and the International Relations and International Management Student Councils, the event followed the popular “3 Minute Thesis” format: one slide, three minutes, and one chance to impress the judges — and the crowd.
This year’s event built on the success of the 2024 launch, where students, staff, and faculty created a fun atmosphere. It was no different this year — the room was full, and the table-banging energy was back in full force. The audience took a moment to honor 2024’s inaugural champion, Abdisalam from Kenya, whose welcome message reminded everyone of the growing legacy of this event. With the crowd hyped, the presenters delivered rapid-fire pitches on diverse, high-impact research topics.
The judging panel featured Professor Jung (GSIR), Professor Sheehan (GSIM), and Pramo, the 2024 valedictorian and one of the founding forces behind the competition. Together, they had the difficult task of selecting the winners from a night full of standout performances. After much deliberation, the judges announced this year’s champions:
First Place: Ilaisaaneliki Fonua (GSIM)
Second Place: Atlas Leyton (GSIM)
Third Place: Dilrukshi (PMPP)
When asked to comment on the event, Professor Sheehan said: “IUJ may be small, but that is also our strength. We attract students with global perspectives, real-world experience, and access to data and stories that big universities sometimes miss. Events like this help us celebrate what makes our community special — clarity, curiosity, and courage. We want to build a purposeful and enduring culture of research excellence here, and this competition is part of that.”
Congratulations to the winners and all the presenters for their creative and meaningful research. They entertained, inspired and helped build a tradition. The IUJ Research Pitch Competition is now firmly on the calendar, and we cannot wait to see who takes the spotlight in 2026. A big thanks to everyone who supported the event, especially the student councils and the IUJ Research Institute. Let’s keep the legacy growing.
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Office of Research Institute
ori@iuj.ac.jp
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Environmental Degradation and Economic Growth: Do Emerging Economies Follow the Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis? by Prof. Chow and Mr. Mukesh Dangol
We were delighted to have Prof. Chow and Mr. Mukesh Dangol — her co-researcher and a 2022 graduate of our university — as guest speakers at this month’s lunch seminar, where they delivered talks on the theme “Environmental Degradation and Economic Growth: Do Emerging Economies Follow the Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis?”
The seminar addressed how the development pathways of emerging economies can significantly influence the global environment. The speakers tested the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis by applying a panel quantile regression analysis. Their results validated the existence of the EKC: while per capita energy consumption showed a consistently positive impact on per capita CO₂ emissions across all quantiles — with increasing influence in higher quantiles — both trade openness and urbanization were found to reduce emissions.
The use of quantile regression enabled a more nuanced understanding of emission patterns across countries, offering valuable insight for designing effective, targeted environmental policies.
We look forward to hosting more engaging seminars on a wide range of topics in the future and encourage everyone to participate.
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Office of Research Institute
ori@iuj.ac.jp
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International Festival (Open Day) 2025 Coming soon! Saturday May 24th
IUJ invites you to its annual Open Day event, International Festival 2025.
This year, food booth is back to open and students will serve their home countries foods.
Enjoy our international community where students from over 60 countries and regions gather.
International Festival 2025 (Open Day)
📅 Saturday May 24th, 2025
🕑 2 PM – 6 PM
🏫 IUJ Campus (Minamiuonuma, Niigata)
FOOD BOOTH
2:00PM – close when all sold out
Taste world foods – our students’ specialties of their home countries
Cooking Teams：
Bhutan / Ghana/ India/ Indonesia/ Japan/ Laos/ Mongolia/ Nigeria/ Pacific Community/ Pakistan/ Sierra Leone/ Sri Lanka/ Tajikistan/ Uganda/ Uzbekistan/Vietnam
STAGE EVENT
2:30PM – 6:00PM
Enjoy the beautiful display of cultures – our students’ amazing singing and dancing performances with home songs
Performance Teams：
African community/Egypt/India/Japan/Laos/Latin America/Myanmar/Philippines/Thailand/Taiwan/Timor Leste/Vietnam
※ For those unable to come on sight, the stage performance will be streamed live on YouTube.
Please subscribe IUJ’s official YouTube channel for the live streaming. >>>
TubeIUJ
Contact:
Office of Student Service
025-779-1435