On October 17, 2025 the president of Swedenʼs KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Prof. Anders Söderholm, visited Tohoku University and met with President Teiji Tominaga, Executive Vice President (for General Affairs, International Relations, and Academic Resources) Prof. Toshiya Ueki, Vice President (for Education Reform and Global Engagement) Prof. Masahiro Yamaguchi, Dean of the Graduate School of Engineering Prof. Akinori Ito, and the director of the Institute of Fluid Science, Prof. Kaoru Maruta.
President Tominaga conveyed a warm welcome to President Söderholm, highlighting the fact that this year marks the 25th anniversary of the Tohoku University and KTHʼs university-level academic exchange agreement. Those 25 years, he said, have yielded productive research activities in various fields, including many at the Institute of Fluid Science. Additionally, the double degree program they share is one of the universityʼs most successful in terms of academic exchange. Afterwards, EVP Ueki presented the ʻUniversities for International Research Excellenceʼ initiative, for which Tohoku University was accredited.
President Söderholm expressed his gratitude for the broad range of successful exchanges between the two universities and his expectations for Tohoku University as a ʻUniversity for International Research Excellenceʼ. This visit, he stated, serves an opportunity for both institutions to reaffirm their trust in their partnership of deep understanding and their mutual intent to further develop their collaborative relationship going forward. He also expressed particular interest in research exchange centered on Tohoku Universityʼs five core research clusters (Materials Science, Spintronics, Next-generation Medicine, Disaster Science, and Earth and Environmental Sciences).
After the meeting, the KTH delegation exchanged ideas about how the current double degree program could be further developed with Prof. Akinori Ito (Dean, Graduate School of Engineering), Prof. Hirokazu Moriya (Vice Director, School of Engineering International Office), Ms. Ai Funayama (Research Associate, School of Engineering International Office), and Specially Appointed Prof. Yoshitaka Kasukabe (Global Learning Center).
This visit is expected to further strengthen research and academic exchange between the two institutions.
Group photo with President Tominaga (front row, third from right) and President Söderholm (front row, center)
Graduate School of Engineering and Global Learning Center double degree program discussion group photo with Dean Ito (third from right) and President Söderholm (fourth from right).
Contact:
Global Strategy Office
Tel: 022-217-6311
Email: kokusai-c*grp.tohoku.ac.jp (please replace * with @)