University of Zurich and Kyoto University hold first joint workshop (27–28 November 2019)

The 1st University of Zurich-Kyoto University Joint Workshop was held at the University of Zurich 27–28 November 2019. The workshop focused on the field of medicine, and sought to enhance collaboration between the two institutions, building on the achievements of two previous symposia held between Kyoto University and multiple Swiss institutions in 2013 and 2016.

Thirty-seven faculty and staff members from the University of Zurich participated in the workshop, including Professor Christian Schwarzenegger, vice president for faculty affairs and scientific information, and Professor Beatrice Beck Schimmer, vice president for medicine. The KyotoU delegation consisted of twenty-two members, including Professor Nagahiro Minato, provost and executive vice-president for strategy coordination, research, planning, and hospital administration, and several faculty members from the Graduate School of Medicine and Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA).

The first day of the workshop opened with addresses by Vice-President Schwarzenegger, Vice-President Schimmer, and Executive Vice-President Minato, which were followed by overviews of the two institutions and their collaboration to date, followed by a general overview of the workshop. A research matchmaking and poster presentation session was then held in the university's "open space". This was divided into separate sections focusing on the fields of "the brain", "cancer", "the heart", "platforms", and "the kidneys". Participants actively exchanged information with colleagues in diverse fields and explored possibilities for future collaboration.

On the second day of the workshop, the achievements of the previous day's work were shared, and the following proposals were made for collaborative research:

1. Collaboration between Professor Yoshihiko Fujita of CiRA, Kyoto University, and the Institute for Regenerative Medicine (IREM) of the University of Zurich
2. Collaborative research between Professor Atsushi Otsuka of the Department of Dermatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, and a counterpart from the Department of Dermatology at the University of Zurich
3. Two collaborative projects in the field of kidney research between Professor Motoko Yanagita of the Department of Nephrology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, and counterparts at the University of Zurich
4. Collaborative research between Professor Ryosuke Takahashi of the Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, and a counterpart from the Department of Neurology at the University of Zurich

The second University of Zurich-Kyoto University Joint Workshop will be held at Kyoto University during or after the next fiscal year to further advance education and research collaboration between the two institutions.