On Saturday, January 23, 2021, the online "8th Research Report & Exchange Session" was hosted by the "Gifu Prefecture Agriculture & Forestry Education System Alliance Meeting"* at the Faculty of Applied Biological Sciences, Gifu University. The session was attended by academic staff and students from the allied institutions, and the staff from the Faculty. In the session, fifty-six research presentations were made by the attending students.

The session began with the opening speeches by Vice President Makoto Sugiyama (General Manager and International Affairs) of Gifu University, and Professor Tohru Mitsunaga, Dean of the Faculty of Applied Biological Sciences. They were followed by the research presentations made by six student groups to discuss their respective fields of research. Every presentation sparked active interactions among students. The students were also intently listening to pieces of advice and instructions given from the teaching staff of the faculty.

The following are the comments from the students: "I would like to use the instructions from professors as an important reference for my future studies." "The meeting offered me a chance to know different kinds of research activities undertaken by other schools."

The 8th session was conducted online for the first time. We would like to express our deep appreciation to every staff of the institutions for their strong support to bring a successful conclusions to the session. We hope that our continued hosting of the meetings from the next year onward will result in many more constructive discussions through a close collaboration between agricultural schools and the university.

The number of presentations: 56

- Gifu Agriculture Academy 3

- Gifu International Academy of Horticulture 5

- Agricultural senior high schools within Gifu Prefecture 48 (Gifu Nourin High School (14), Kamo Nourin High School (10), Ena Agricultural High School (8), Hida Takayama High School (6), Gujo High School (4) and Ogaki-yoro High School (6))

Excellent Awards went to:

- "Creation of School Garden" (Kamo Nourin High School)

- "Christmas Flower Quality Improvement (labor-saving of fertilization)" (Ogaki-yoro High School)

- "Separation and Utilization of Honey Yeasts" (Ena Agricultural High School)

- "Shorter Intervals between Deliveries through Post-Delivery Early Breeding, Identification of Uterus Recovery Period" (Gifu Nourin High School)

- "Forest Thinning: for Sound Growth of Artificial Cypress Forest" (Gujo High School)

- "Promotion of Sustainable Agriculture for the Future" (Gifu Nourin High School)

*Gifu Prefecture Agriculture & Forestry Education System Alliance Meeting consists of Gifu University and agricultural schools and institutions within Gifu Prefecture