An Official Visit to Japan to Strengthen Existing Relationships and Expand Cooperation

From 25 June to 6 July, Rector Giovanni Molari and Professor Raffaella Campaner, Vice Rector for International Relations, visited Japan to reinforce and broaden academic collaborations with some of the country's most prestigious universities.

Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya, and Kobe were the venues for meetings with representatives from the University of Bologna's long-standing partner universities. These meetings helped consolidate existing relationships and explore new areas and forms of cooperation with Japanese institutions.

Topics discussed included faculty and student mobility, with a focus on Summer and Winter School programmes, intensive short courses, and internships. There was also a shared commitment to increasing the mobility of visiting scholars and PhD students, in collaboration with both Italian and Japanese companies.

The discussions highlighted a strong mutual interest in collaborating on cross-cutting themes of significant importance, such as climate change, artificial intelligence, robotics, energy, health, cultural heritage, and digital humanities. There was a recognized need to develop specific activities and formats to foster research and teaching collaborations in these and other key areas, including sustainability, gender balance, and inclusion.

The delegation also took the opportunity to enhance existing collaboration with NTT Data by visiting their laboratories and discussing future projects. Additionally, they engaged with the Italian diplomatic representatives in Japan.

The Rector met with the Italian Ambassador in Tokyo, the Italian Consul in Osaka, and the Head of the Italian Cultural Institute in Osaka to identify synergies in promoting the University of Bologna's educational offerings in Japan and organising cultural events.

A significant moment was the visit to the United Nations University, where further possibilities for cooperation at local, national, and international levels were explored. In the coming months, discussions between the University of Bologna, Japanese universities, and companies will continue through joint meetings and initiatives in both countries.