HIAS Bridges NEXT

Mengying Peng

Research field:Applied economics, development economics, and the economics of education.

●What are your current research interests?

My research interests include human capital development, education policy, educational inequality, and students’ college and major choices. I am also exploring the use of machine learning in my work.

●What do you enjoy most about research?

My research interests include human capital development, education policy, educational inequality, and students’ college and major choices. I am also exploring the use of machine learning in my work.

● What does research mean to you?(In a nutshell)

For me, research is a bridge between my own experiences and broader realities, helping me understand the world more deeply and connect with diverse people.

●What inspired you to become a researcher?

I love doing research – every time I complete an analysis and uncover something interesting, it brings me joy. That passion led me to become a researcher, and I feel lucky to have made it happen.

●What are your future goals as a researcher?

I hope to contribute to reducing educational inequality by making better-quality educational resources more accessible. At the same time, I want my research to support students in making informed choices that empower them to build the lives they aspire to.

Hiroki Shinozaki

Research field:Mechanism Design / Market Design

●What are your current research interests?

Auctions

●What do you enjoy most about research?

It’s fun when an idea takes shape.

● What does research mean to you?(In a nutshell)

For me, research is like a curry party.

●What inspired you to become a researcher?

I have been enlightened.

●What are your future goals as a researcher?

I would like to dedicate myself to research like a rhinoceros.

Kim Honjik

Research field:Built environment and human behavior

●What are your current research interests?

Social sustainability, including health promotion, aging in place, well-being, and social participation

●What do you enjoy most about research?

When I was able to add a brick to the foundation of studies

● What does research mean to you?(In a nutshell)

Adventure for a better future/life

●What inspired you to become a researcher?

I am interested in the topic of “where we prefer to live.” As East Asian countries are facing rapid population aging, I have focused my research on the types of neighborhoods that older adults are most satisfied with.

●What are your future goals as a researcher?

I hope my research will help create living environments where people of all ages can feel happy.

Junichi Kikuchi

Research field:Macroeconomics

●What are your current research interests?

Expectation / Inflation / Consumption / Measurement

●What do you enjoy most about research?

When embarking on new data and/or new projects

● What does research mean to you?(In a nutshell)

A hobby that never gets boring

●What inspired you to become a researcher?

If I had to choose, I would say the experience of devoting hour after hour in research in my graduate school years.

●What are your future goals as a researcher?

A researcher who is not only enthusiastic in research but also education.

Davide Luigi Totaro

Research field:Comparative Private Law

●What are your current research interests?

Contracts, Insurance, Fintech/Insurtech, Artificial Intelligence, and Data Protection

●What do you enjoy most about research?

Providing solutions and insights on practical legal issues while advancing the theoretical framework, bridging the gap between industry and academia

● What does research mean to you?(In a nutshell)

Advance human knowledge-understanding and problem-solving capability

●What inspired you to become a researcher?

The freedom to research, express yourself, and pursue knowledge, privileges that only academia can grant.

●What are your future goals as a researcher?

Furthering my knowledge and expertise in academia while engaging with private and public entities in the hope of working together toward common standards for trade and governance, especially in areas such as Artificial Intelligence.

Shaofeng Zheng

Research field:Social Psychology, Cultural Psychology

●What are your current research interests?

How gene and environmental factors (e.g., culture, childhood experience) independently and interactively shape individuals’ empathy and support-seeking

●What do you enjoy most about research?

Writing interesting papers

● What does research mean to you?(In a nutshell)

Solve problems with a systematic, scientific approach

●What inspired you to become a researcher?

Understanding human nature

●What are your future goals as a researcher?

Create my own theory or research field and inspire others to join me

Takashi Katsumata

Research field:European legal history

●What are your current research interests?

Relationship between different laws and validity of local law in the Middle Ages and the early modern period.

●What do you enjoy most about research?

Finding a topic that hasn’t been noticed in previous research in historical materials.

● What does research mean to you?(In a nutshell)

Adding a piece of findings to the accumulated body of studies.

●What inspired you to become a researcher?

Interest in “ius commune” from a European legal history class.

●What are your future goals as a researcher?

To learn to use clear language.

Toshimitsu Aritake

Research field:Statictical machine learning

●What are your current research interests?

I am focusing on machine learning, particularly researching distribution shift aspects such as transfer learning and domain adaptation, and also meta-optimization, which involves learning how to optimize.

●What do you enjoy most about research?

I feel a sense of excitement when I thoroughly understand the problem at hand and come up with models or analytical methods that fit that problem well.

● What does research mean to you?(In a nutshell)

The pursuit of novelty and self-improvement.

●What inspired you to become a researcher?

Initially, I was motivated by my admiration for how my mentor and senior colleagues in the lab approached their research. Afterward, I worked at a company, but I couldn’t let go of my desire to become a researcher, so I returned to the path of research.

●What are your future goals as a researcher?

I aim to advance research on two fronts: addressing practical problems while also tackling mathematically intriguing problems.

Akimune Yoshida

Research field:Comparative Law and Animal Law

●What are your current research interests?

Comparative Legal Culture, Animal’s Legal Status, and Education and Research of Japanese Law in English

●What do you enjoy most about research?

Finding out the relevance between things that seem unrelated.

● What does research mean to you?(In a nutshell)

Improvement of arguments through discussion across time and space.

●What inspired you to become a researcher?

My respectful mentors and Seminaristen changed my life.

●What are your future goals as a researcher?

My future goal is to contribute to academia and society.

Marco Nutta

Research field:Marketing

●What are your current research interests?

Branding, Brand coolness, consumer behavior, foodservice and lodging marketing

●What do you enjoy most about research?

Learning a new skill each time I start a project.

● What does research mean to you?(In a nutshell)

Discovering the unknown and confirming or denying assumptions

●What inspired you to become a researcher?

My mother because she is a researcher and I always wanted to be like her.

●What are your future goals as a researcher?

I would like to be well-known for brand coolness research. Additionally, my field lacks theoretical development and I would like to one day to contribute to the development of a new theory specific to hospitality and tourism.