On October 1, 2016, representatives of six Swedish and eleven Japanese universities met at Kyoto university to discuss cooperation under the name of ”Mirai” – future!

Swedish-Japanese university cooperation was discussed at Kyoto university on October 1, 2016. Representatives of the following organizations and universities participated: Nagoya U., STINT, JSPS, Chalmers UoT, Hokkaido U, Tokyo U, Linkoping U, Tokyo Tech, Kyoto U., Stockholm U., Osaka U., Hiroshima U., Kyushu U.,  Umeå U., Uppsala U, Waseda U., Sophia University,  Embassy of Sweden, Sweden-Japan Foundation and Lund U,. The Swedish delegation was headed by Prof Ewa Wiberg, deputy vice chancellor of Lund U., on the picture seated in the front row next to H.E. Ambassador Magnus Robach, who on his other side has the Japanese host, Prof Seichi Natsuo, president of Nagoya U.

The universities agreed on broad themes for cooperation: Sustainability, Ageing and Material science. These are to be interpreted in a broad sense. For example, automotive research for safety could fall under Ageing, i e a need of the society.

The format will be seminars, workshops and PhD-courses. An over all steering committee was appointed with three Swedish universities and three Japanese universities: Lund university (coordinator Swedish side), Uppsala university and Umeå university. Nagoya university (coordinator Japanese side), Tokyo university and Waseda university.

The cooperation within this framework will take place 2016-2019. The target for the funding is: the six Swedish universities MSEK 6,  STINT MSEK 5, and the eleven Japanese universities MSEK 6, total approximately MSEK 18.