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Lehman-Toyohashi Exchange Program Brings Japanese Student Researchers to Campus
Students from Toyahashi University and Professor Andrei Jitianu (right) in the chemistry lab.
March 24, 2026
As March comes to a close, five students from Toyohashi University of Technology in Japan are wrapping up a research exchange at Lehman College, where they have been working in faculty labs and building academic and cross-cultural connections with students and faculty mentors across disciplines.
"The exchange intentionally brings together two groups of students who come from different cultures that have different approaches to research, teaching, and learning,” said Andrei Jitianu, professor and chair of the Chemistry Department, who established the program with Toyahashi. “Lehman students have the opportunity to learn about their Japanese peers’ more systematic methods of research, while the Japanese students learn about the flexibility and adaptability of the American approach.”
“We’re facilitating a symbiotic type of learning that will have lasting benefits for successive groups of participants on both sides of the world,” he added.
The program allows up to 10 Toyahashi students—primarily undergraduates—to come to Lehman for four weeks of research. Based on their interests, experience, and faculty availability, the students are placed in different laboratories, most often in chemistry and anthropology.
“I major in computer science, and during my time in the lab and workshops, I’ve learned how other fields such as chemistry and materials science are applying AI in their research,” said Thai Khac Duc An. “This experience has shown me how to bridge the strengths of AI in computer science with other disciplines to solve real-world problems, which I’ve found especially valuable.”
While on campus, exchange students work alongside Lehman undergraduates on research projects, share meals, and spend time together outside the lab, forming friendships as well as academic ties.
“This has been a great opportunity to broaden my perspective on research and build international connections,” Thai said.
The partnership grew out of a 2015 international conference in Kyoto, where Jitianu met Professor Atsunori Matsuda, a professor of chemistry and then-vice president of international affairs at Toyahashi University. They connected through a shared interest in sol-gel chemistry and began exploring ways to collaborate. The program was launched in 2019.
The Lehman College experience made such an impression that two Toyahashi students later returned for extended research stays funded by the Japanese government, and went on to co-author publications with Lehman faculty.
Jitianu hopes to organize an immersive Japanese research experience for Lehman students in the future.