Global Engagement

Strategic partnerships established with the University of Bordeaux and the University of Vienna (7–8 October 2019)

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Kyoto University has recently concluded strategic partnership agreements with the University of Bordeaux (France) and the University of Vienna (Austria). Under these university-level agreements, the partners seek to strengthen their cooperative relationships with a view to furthering existing research exchange, expanding the scope of research collaborations, and increasing student, researcher, and staff mobility. For Kyoto University, these marked the first such agreements of their kind.

Both partnerships were launched with signing ceremonies held successfully in Kyoto, on 7 and 8 October. The first ceremony was for the agreement with Bordeaux, represented by President Manuel Tunon de Lala, while the second was for Vienna, represented by Rector Heinz W Engl, who was accompanied for the occasion by His Excellency Dr Hubert Heiss, ambassador of the Republic of Austria to Japan. President Juichi Yamagiwa signed both agreements on behalf of Kyoto University.

These partnerships represent an important part of Kyoto University's ongoing efforts to promote sustainable, interdisciplinary, and international exchange partnerships with an aim to enhance its international competitiveness.

University of Bordeaux President de Lala (left) and KyotoU President Yamagiwa

Signing ceremony for the agreement with the University of Vienna: (from left) University of Vienna Rector Engl, HE Ambassador Heiss, KyotoU President Yamagiwa, and Dr Kayo Inaba, executive vice-president for gender equality, international affairs, and public relations

Kyoto University's exchange activities with strategic partners

  • University of Bordeaux https://www.u-bordeaux.com/
    The University of Bordeaux is a French public university founded in 1441. It concluded an academic exchange agreement with Kyoto University in 2014, after the two institutions jointly held an international symposium earlier in the year. They have since held two more joint symposia, one in 2015 and the other in 2017, as well as collaborating on research and development projects in fields such as medicine and energy science. In August 2019, the two universities joined Ethiopia's Addis Ababa University (AAU) in a trilateral strategic meeting, where the three parties agreed to promote academic collaboration in three fields: African area studies, health and aging, and sustainable cities.
  • University of Vienna https://www.univie.ac.at/en/
    The University of Vienna is a comprehensive public university in Austria, founded in 1365. Kyoto University and the University of Vienna have been engaged in research collaboration and student exchange for over 20 years, beginning in 1993, when they concluded an academic exchange agreement. In 2018, the two universities entered into a research partnership agreement, under which they held their first joint workshop in September of the same year. The workshop, taking place at the University of Vienna, focused on promoting research collaboration in the fields of comparative social politics, material science, and cognitive biology.

    In 2019, the year marking the 150th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Austria and Japan, the University of Vienna and Kyoto University held their second joint workshop, hosted in Kyoto and adding the topics of Asian studies and art history.

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