JANU Held an Opinion Exchange Meeting with UUK (January 10, 2018)
In the morning of Wednesday, January 10, 2018, the Japan Association of National Universities (JANU) held an opinion exchange meeting at GakushiKaikan (Tokyo), with the participation of President of Universities UK (UUK) Dame Janet Beer (Vice-Chancellor, University of Liverpool), Director of Universities UK International (UUKi) Vivienne Stern, and Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Stirling Gerry McCormac.
Participants of JANU were President Juichi Yamagiwa (President, Kyoto University), Vice President Seiichi Matsuo (President, Nagoya University), Vice President Kyosuke Nagata (President, University of Tsukuba), Vice President Masaaki Oka (President, Yamaguchi University), Vice President Kimiko Murofushi (President, Ochanomizu University), Senior Managing Director Kenji Yamamoto, and Managing Director Masato Kitani. In addition, Director Hirotaka Yamada, International Cooperation, International Science and Technology Affairs Division, Science and Technology Policy Bureau, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT); First Secretary and Head of Science, Innovation and Global Challenges Griff Jones, British Embassy Tokyo; British Council Director Japan Matt Burney; and Head of Education Chika Takahashi, British Council Japan, also attended this meeting.
This opinion exchange meeting was held to follow up the memorandum of understanding (MOU) concluded between JANU and UUK in the previous fiscal year. Participants in the meeting shared information about the current situations surrounding higher education in both Japan and the UK, and actively discussed concrete measures for cooperation and collaboration between the two associations. The meeting ended up with the decision to consider holding a joint symposium on themes in which both associations share interest.
In the afternoon of the same day, Professor Beer, Ms. Stern, and Professor McCormac, together with JANU Administrative Office staff members, visited the Hongo Campus of the University of Tokyo to observe a laboratory, where they learned about the most advanced research the university has tackled and were given detailed descriptions of the university’s globalization initiative by Executive Vice President Masashi Haneda, the University of Tokyo (Expert Member of the International Exchange Committee, JANU) and other university staff. The three British visitors paid careful attention to these explanations and showed strong interest, and the participants had active exchanges of questions and answers.
It is expected that Japan-UK inter-university exchanges will continue to grow. JANU will take positive measures to expand exchanges with the UK by strengthening cooperative relationship with UUK.
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A scene from the opinion exchange meeting |
(From right) Professor McCormac (Principal and Vice-Chancellor, University of Stirling); Professor Beer (UUK President); Ms. Stern (UUKi Director) |
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Vice President Nagata explaining about JANU and Japan-UK inter-university exchanges |
Group photo |