The 2nd Japan-India Universities Forum, a meeting of university presidents from Japan and India hosted by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) was held in Kyoto on September 30, 2023. President Nagahiro Minato attended.
The forum was divided into two sessions, the first featuring keynote speeches by university presidents and corporate executives from Japan and India and the second consisting of two roundtable discussions on the themes of “development of the environment for expanding Indian students and researchers to Japan” and “academia-industry collaboration regarding HRD (Human Resource Development) and/or the mobilization of HR.”
The second session also included meetings between delegates from individual institutions, and provided an opportunity for the Kyoto University delegates to meet with counterparts from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur to discuss the further development of education and research collaboration between the two institutions.
The forum is expected to contribute to the enhancement of cooperation between Japan and India, and facilitate a broad range of research and personnel exchange involving universities, research institutes, and companies in both countries.
Additionally, on October 2, a delegation of executives from nine of the Indian academic institutions that participated in the forum visited Kyoto University and met with President Nagahiro Minato, Prof. Yasuyuki Kono (vice-president for international strategy), Prof. Takao Hirajima (Director of the Division of Graduate Studies), and Vice-President Fuyuki Ishikawa (director of the Kyoto University Research Administration Center [KURA]). During the meeting, the Kyoto University delegates provided the visitors with an overview of the Division of Graduate Studies and KURA, and opinions were exchanged regarding future collaboration between Kyoto University and institutions in India.
Visiting delegates (in alphabetical order of university name)
Vice Chancellor R. Velraj, Anna University
Director Subhasis Chaudhuri, IIT Bombay
Deputy Director Ambuj Sagar, IIT Delhi
Officiating Director Parameswar Krishnan Iyer, IIT Guwahati
Director B. S. Murty, IIT Hyderabad
Director Virendra Kumar Tewari, IIT Kharagpur
Former Dean Administration Koshy Varghese, IIT Madras
Vice Chancellor Santishree D. Pandit, Jawaharlal Nehru University
Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh, University of Delhi
