Prime Minister Abe listening to President Matsumoto summarize points from the morning's discussion
Kyoto University President Hiroshi Matsumoto played an active role in discussions on education and research at a conference of leading Japanese and UK universities held on May 1 at University College London. During the conference President Matsumoto also took part in an open conversation with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The one-day meeting at UCL, "Japan-UK Universities Conference for Collaboration in Research and Education,” brought together senior executives from fourteen Japanese and sixteen UK universities, who took part in a wide-ranging forum examining successful joint programs, exchanges of students and researchers, and challenges for the future.
Prime Minister Abe, in London for meetings with the UK government, attended a special roundtable session at the conference, also attending a ceremony at a UCL monument commemorating the Choshu Five, young Japanese scholars who attended the college toward the end of the feudal period and later went on to become leading figures in Japan's early modern era.
The bulk of the meetings was taken up with presentations from each university, highlighting key milestones in the development of their educational and research efforts, and noting important joint Japan-UK efforts. One oft-cited example was RENKEI, a program launched in 2013 by the British Council and eleven of the institutions participating in the conference, which has already successfully realized two pilot exchange visits at Bristol and in Kyoto.
President Matsumoto co-chaired a morning education panel discussion, succinctly summarizing various issues and points for consideration, which he then later presented to the Prime Minister. These included strengthening RENKEI, overcoming challenges such as credit transferability and curriculum compatibility, securing external funding to support future exchanges, and increasing participation by improving accommodation and language issues.
Later in the day the President delivered a presentation, describing Kyoto University's many achievements and numerous connections with scholars and institutions in the UK, including the strong partnership in recent years with the University of Bristol, which was also lauded by several other speakers during the day, including the Prime Minister.
*1 Participatng Japanese institutions : Kyoto University, Doshisha University, Hitotsubashi University, Hokkaido University, Keio University, Kyushu University, Nagoya University, Osaka University, Ritsumeikan University, Tohoku University, University of Tokyo, Tokyo Institute of Technology, University of Tsukuba, Waseda University
*2 Participating UK institutions : University of Bristol, University of Cambridge, University of Durham, University of Edinburgh, Imperial College London, King's College London, University of Leeds, University of Liverpool, London School of Economics, University of Manchester, University of Newcastle, University of Oxford, University of Sheffield, University of Southampton, University College London, University of York, University of Warwick
 President Matsumoto delivering a presentation on Kyoto University |  Group photo of the conference participants together with Japanese Prime Minister Abe |
Related links
- The 150th anniversary of the Choshu Five at UCL
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0713/03072013-UCL-and-Japan-150-celebration - RENKEI website
http://www.renkei-researcher-schools.org
