Radiation research trends by young scientists and the future tasks in Northern Japan: report on 'the 10th educational symposium on radiation and health (ESRAH) by young scientists in 2023'.

Purpose: Since 2014, an educational activity on radiation and health in northern Japan has been carried out by young scientists, the so-called 'Educational Symposium on Radiation and Health (ESRAH)'. Close cooperation has been continued in preparing for any possible emergency response to radiation accidents because several facilities, e.g., the Tomari Nuclear Power Plant in Hokkaido and the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility in Aomori prefecture. The ESRAH meeting has provided informational exchange and discussion forum on a broad range of subjects in various. In 2023, the 10th Memorial ESRAH meeting took place to boost scientific understanding and multidisciplinary collaborations for young scientists. Herein, we report on the ESRAH2023 symposium and analyze the research categories of young scientists from the past 10-year presentations.

Conclusions: To date, the ESRAH meeting has successfully provided a chance for multi-disciplinary research, which accounted for 27% of the total despite the COVID-19 pandemic. We found that the fraction of multi-disciplinary research in 2023 was the highest during 10-year ESRAH meetings. Meanwhile, amongst the research categories, physics, chemistry, and pharmacological studies were indicated to be less for young scientists. It is desired that further collaboration between physics, chemistry, and pharmacology in addition to the current fields would not only clarify radiation effects on the human body but also promote emergency medical care for radiation exposure in the future.