The IAFOR Undergraduate Research Symposium (IURS)

Join us in Tokyo

Overview

The IAFOR Undergraduate Research Symposium (IURS), previously the Asian Undergraduate Research Symposium (AURS), provides students with a motivating and thought-provoking opportunity to present their research. IURS takes place in a supportive and collegial environment at one of IAFOR’s renowned international conferences where students can network with other undergraduates and academics from around the world. Find out how your participation in the symposium can aid you in your career.

The two-day symposium allows participants to join other engaged undergraduate students from across the globe. This international and interdisciplinary course aims to enhance their oral communication skills through a series of challenging and exciting seminars and activities. All fields of study are welcome.

  • Present their research project to like-minded peers, academics, and professionals
  • Learn from feedback and advice
  • Develop their presentation skills
  • Broaden their professional network and forge new friendships
Download the Brochure (PDF)
Download the Presenters' Handbook (PDF)

2025 Schedule

The 2025 Symposium will be held in conjunction with IAFOR’s The 17th Asian conference on Education (ACE2025)

Symposium Name IURS in Tokyo 2025
Host Conference The 17th Asian Conference on Education (ACE2025)
Submission Deadline Friday, August 22, 2025
Review Results Monday, September 15, 2025
Registration Deadline Friday, October 3, 2025
Online Day Saturday, November 1, 2025
Onsite Day Tuesday, November 25, 2025
Capacity Maximum 150 Places
Registration Fee 5,000 JPY
Submit to Tokyo

Day 1: is held online and focuses on shaping and presenting ideas – how to formulate thoughts, structure presentations in ways that are engaging and easy to understand, and communicate intentions with maximum clarity and impact.

Day 2 is held during an IAFOR conference and focuses on the hard skills that allow students to operate as an effective communicator during presentations. These techniques are invaluable in academic, business and everyday contexts, and will allow students to convey their ideas in ways that will leave strong impressions on their audience.

Participants will receive a Certificate of Presentation after the Symposium.
Facilitators: Professor Grant Black, Dr Joseph Haldane, Dr Melina Neophytou, Mr Apipol Sae-Tung
Language Requirement: The symposium will be conducted in English.
Participants should have an Intermediate to Advanced EFL/ESL proficiency level.

Requirements:
- Participants must be currently enrolled in an undergraduate programme (student ID is required)
- Participants must have an accepted submission to the symposium
- Participants must pay the registration fee
- Participants are required to join both days of the symposium
- Participants are expected to participate and present in English. Participants should have an intermediate to advanced EFL/ESL proficiency level.

Facilitators

  • Professor Grant Black
    Professor Grant Black
    Chuo University, Japan
  • Dr Joseph Haldane
    Dr Joseph Haldane
    The International Academic Forum (IAFOR), Japan
  • Dr Melina Neophytou
    Dr Melina Neophytou
    The International Academic Forum, Japan
  • Apipol Sae-Tung
    Apipol Sae-Tung
    The International Academic Forum, Japan

Photos from Previous IURS Events

The IAFOR Undergraduate Research Symposium (IURS)

The IAFOR Undergraduate Research Symposium (IURS)

The IAFOR Undergraduate Research Symposium (IURS)

The IAFOR Undergraduate Research Symposium (IURS)

The IAFOR Undergraduate Research Symposium (IURS)

The IAFOR Undergraduate Research Symposium (IURS)

The Asian Undergraduate Research Symposium (AURS2017)

The Asian Undergraduate Research Symposium (AURS2017)

The Asian Undergraduate Research Symposium (AURS2017)

The Asian Undergraduate Research Symposium (AURS2017)

The Asian Undergraduate Research Symposium (AURS2017)

The Asian Undergraduate Research Symposium (AURS2017)

View More Photos From IURS Events
Professor Grant Black
Chuo University, Japan

Biography

Professor Grant Black is a professor in the Faculty of Commerce at Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan, where he has taught Global Skills and Global Issues since 2013. Grant is engaged in diverse roles as a global manager, systems builder, executive leader and university professor. His research and teaching areas include global management skills, intercultural intelligence (CQ) and organisational management. He also has taught Japanese Management Theory at J. F. Oberlin University (Japan), and a continuing education course in the Foundations of Japanese Zen Buddhism at Temple University Japan. Previously, he was Chair of the English Section at the Center for Education of Global Communication at the University of Tsukuba where he served in a six-year post in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. He holds a BA Highest Honors in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara; an MA in Japanese Buddhist Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles; and a Doctor of Social Science (DSocSci) from the Department of Management in the School of Business at the University of Leicester. Dr Black is a Chartered Manager (CMgr), the highest status that can be achieved in the management profession in the UK. In 2018, he was elected a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute (FCMI) and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA). Grant is President of Black Inc. Consulting (Japan), a Tokyo-based firm specialising in international and intercultural project management, communication projects, and executive leadership and training. He is the director of the Nippon Academic Management Institute (NAMI) and the author of Education Reform Policy at a Japanese Super Global University: Policy Translation, Migration and Mutation (Routledge, 2022). He serves as a Vice-President for the International Academic Forum (IAFOR).

Professor Grant Black is a Vice-President (at large) of IAFOR. He is a member of the Business & Economics section of the International Academic Advisory Board.

Dr Joseph Haldane
The International Academic Forum (IAFOR), Japan

Biography

Joseph Haldane is the Chairman and CEO of IAFOR. He is responsible for devising strategy, setting policies, forging institutional partnerships, implementing projects, and overseeing the organisation’s business and academic operations, including research, publications and events.

Dr Haldane holds a PhD from the University of London in 19th-century French Studies, and has had full-time faculty positions at the University of Paris XII Paris-Est Créteil (France), Sciences Po Paris (France), and Nagoya University of Commerce and Business (Japan), as well as visiting positions at the French Press Institute in the University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas (France), The School of Journalism at Sciences Po Paris (France), and the School of Journalism at Moscow State University (Russia).

Dr Haldane’s current research concentrates on post-war and contemporary politics and international affairs, and since 2015 he has been a Guest Professor at The Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP) at Osaka University, where he teaches on the postgraduate Global Governance Course, and Co-Director of the OSIPP-IAFOR Research Centre, an interdisciplinary think tank situated within Osaka University.

A Member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network for Global Governance, Dr Haldane is also a Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Philology at the University of Belgrade (Serbia), a Visiting Professor at the School of Business at Doshisha University (Japan), and a Member of the International Advisory Council of the Department of Educational Foundations at the College of Education of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (USA).

From 2012 to 2014, Dr Haldane served as Treasurer of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (Chubu Region) and he is currently a Trustee of the HOPE International Development Agency (Japan). He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society in 2012, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2015.

Dr Melina Neophytou
The International Academic Forum, Japan

Biography

Dr Melina Neophytou is an Academic Coordinator at IAFOR, working closely with academics, keynote speakers, and IAFOR partners to shape academic discussions within the Forum. Her work involves bringing conference programmes together, refining scholarship programmes, and building an interdisciplinary and international community throughout IAFOR’s network. She currently leads various projects within IAFOR, such as the Forum discussion sessions and the authorship of Conference Reports. Her latest role at IAFOR is facilitating the IAFOR Undergraduate Research Symposium (IURS).

Born in Germany and raised in Cyprus, Dr Neophytou holds a PhD in International Development from Nagoya University, Japan. She received an MA in International Development from Nagoya University, majoring in Governance & Law with a minor in Rural Development, and a BA from the University of Cyprus in European Studies. She specialised in political sociology, the welfare state, and contentious politics throughout her academic career, expanding from local contexts in Thailand and Cyprus to theory and practices of regionalisation. Her research has now shifted to the Japanese welfare state, family values within Japanese society, and their relationship to family policies. She is interested in state-society relations by uncovering how informal social ideas and contention influence formal social policy.

Apipol Sae-Tung
The International Academic Forum, Japan

Biography

Apipol Sae-Tung is an Academic Coordinator at IAFOR, where he contributes to the development and execution of academic-related content and activities. He works closely with the Forum’s partner institutions and mediates conference reports and roundtable discussions for the Forum’s international conference programme. He recently began facilitating the IAFOR Undergraduate Research Symposium (IURS).

Mr Sae-Tung began his career as a Program Coordinator for the Faculty of Political Science at Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. He was awarded the Japanese Government’s MEXT Research Scholarship and is currently pursuing a PhD at the Graduate School of International Development, Nagoya University, Japan. His research focuses on government and policy analysis, particularly on authoritarian regimes. He currently takes part in research projects on international student education in Thailand, Southeast Asian politics, Japan-Asia digital economy, and AI-language model training.

Mr Sae-Tung holds an MA in International Relations and Diplomacy from Thammasat University, where he studied foreign policy analysis and Thailand-China relations. He also holds a BA in History from the same institution, with a focus on modern Western and Southeast Asian comparative history and historiography.

Mr Sae-Tung has interned for the United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD) in Japan, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Thailand. Mr Sae-Tung served on the Lifelong Learning Team while with UNESCO, working specifically on projects enhancing education access through online platforms among Thai NEET individuals and supporting Myanmar migrant children in providing shelters and access to proper education along the Thai-Myanmar border.