Executive Vice President Toshiya Ueki attended the annual RENKEI (Japan-UK Research and Education Network for Knowledge Economy Initiatives) Steering Committee Meeting at the British Council in London on March 29.
A total of 24 representatives from member universities, including directors and vice presidents, participated in the meeting, sharing the results of major projects and discussing future opportunities.
The meeting started with a budgetary report, and this was followed by a progress report from the University of Newcastle on an early-career researcher exchange program in the field of climate change. The University of Newcastle is the lead university for the program, which is being implemented as part of RENKEI’s 10th Anniversary Grant Project. A report was presented on the project’s main event, a Winter School held at Kyoto University from November 28 to December 2. One faculty member and three students from Tohoku University attended the Winter School.
RENKEI’s current joint research themes are Climate Change and Health, and the members discussed new fields that could also become research themes. There were also discussions on the possibility of cooperation with new partners and the creation of more student exchange opportunities.
After the Steering Committee Meeting, EVP Ueki had one-on-one talks with Dr. Robert Spencer Hazel of the University of Newcastle, with whom he will co-chair the consortium from this academic year. They agreed to work together to raise the profile of the consortium and to strengthen collaboration between Japan and the United Kingdom.
RENKEI is a bilateral university network through which six Japanese universities and six British universities share knowledge and conduct joint research. The network is working to strengthen cooperation with various stakeholders such as governments and industry, and 2022 marked the 10th anniversary of its founding. On the day before the meeting, a commemorative event and reception were held at the Embassy of Japan. The UK’s Minister for Science, Innovation and Technology, George Freeman, delivered a keynote speech on global issues, such as security, that he said Japan and the UK should take the lead in addressing. He also spoke about the importance of fostering early-career researchers.
For more information on RENKEI, please click here.
EVP Ueki at the Steering Committee Meeting
RENKEI’s co-chairs for the 2023 academic year are EVP Ueki (left) and Dr Robert Spencer Hazel of the University of Newcastle
Contact:
Global Engagement Division, Tohoku University
Email: kokusai-k@grp.tohoku.ac.jp