Kobe University

Visits to Hamburg University of Technology and University of Kiel

April 5, 2019

On February 28, Professor Noriyuki Inoue (Executive Vice President in Charge of International Exchange), Professor Akio Tomiyama (Dean of the Graduate School of Engineering) and Professor Minoru Mizuhata (Graduate School of Engineering) visited Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH).

Kobe University and TUHH concluded an inter-university academic exchange agreement in February 2018. The meeting began with words of welcome from Prof. Dr. Hendrik Brinksma (President of TUHH), followed by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Michael Schlüter giving an outline of the exchange between our institutions. Both sides introduced programs that could enable us to increase our bilateral student exchange, building on the memorandum of understanding for student exchange concluded in August 2018. The visit was also attended by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Bonn Office Director Prof. Dr. Masahiko Hayashi and Deputy Director Tomoko Deguchi. In addition to the above topics, the attendees discussed the Germany-Japan Academic Colloquium scheduled for December 2019, with Kobe University and TUHH as the core organizers.

The following day (March 1), the Kobe University delegation visited the University of Kiel in Schleswig-Holstein state. The University of Kiel and Kobe University concluded an agreement for academic exchange in 2016, and before this formal agreement our institutions were already involved in regular exchange of researchers and students in the fields of engineering, economics and business administration. The morning meeting was attended from the University of Kiel by Prof. Dr. Karin Schwarz (Vice President), Dr. Martina Schmode (Director of the International Center) and Andreas Ritter (Asia Deputy Director at the International Center). The participants discussed the potential for research laboratory internships and introduced summer programs with the aim of further enhancing student exchange in engineering fields. In the afternoon meeting, Prof. Dr. Franz Faupel, who has visited Kobe University on multiple occasions, introduced researchers in the fields of physics and chemistry, and the participants talked about expanding our fields of exchange.

Looking ahead to the academic year 2019, we expect to see further developments in both student and researcher exchange with TUHH and the University of Kiel. These visits provided a valuable opportunity to enhance our exchange initiatives with both institutions.

(International Affairs Planning Division)