On 15–16 November 2017, the RENKEI (Japan-UK Research and Education Network for Knowledge Economy Initiatives) Annual Meeting took place at the University of Southampton (UK). In attendance were twenty-seven representatives of ten RENKEI member universities in Japan and the UK, as well as delegates from the British Council. Kyoto University was represented by Dr Kayo Inaba, executive vice-president for gender equality, international affairs, and public relations.
RENKEI was established in 2012 as an international platform to promote academia-industry collaboration between universities in Japan and the UK. It has since initiated several working groups to enhance collaboration in diverse areas of research, education, and human resources cultivation.
The annual meeting opened with greetings from Professor Colin Grant, vice president of the University of Southampton, and Mr Matt Burney, director for Japan of the British Council. A report was then given on 2017 RENKEI workshops and scholarships provided to student participants.
In spring 2018, RENKEI will complete its first six-year phase of activities, and embark on a second phase, RENKEI 2.0. Reflecting this, discussions at the 2017 meeting focused on the network’s future orientation, plans for international research collaboration, and the ways in which RENKEI can contribute to society. "Climate Change" and "Health" were adopted as main themes for RENKEI 2.0, based on the Japan-UK Joint Declaration on Prosperity Cooperation which had resulted from the August 2017 meeting between the two countries' prime ministers. RENKEI member universities are planning to initiate new collaborative projects based on these themes, to address related issues in both countries.
In addition to attending the RENKEI Annual Meeting, the KU delegation used its visit to Southampton as an opportunity to conclude a university-level memorandum of understanding for academic cooperation. The University of Southampton is a member of the Russell Group, an association of twenty-four leading research universities in the UK, and has been a student-exchange partner with Kyoto University since 2012. The new memorandum is anticipated to further advance research collaboration between the two institutions, and enhance their existing multilateral collaboration within the RENKEI network.
The 2018 RENKEI Annual Meeting will be held at Kyushu University.
Session to select research collaboration themes
EVP Inaba proposing "Climate Action" as a collaboration theme on behalf of Kyoto University
VP Grant and EVP Inaba at the MoU signing ceremony
Related websites
- RENKEI: Japan-UK Research and Education Network for Knowledge Economy Initiatives
https://www.britishcouncil.jp/en/programmes/higher-education/university-industry-partnership/renkei - University of Southampton
https://www.southampton.ac.uk/
