Workshop Held on S&T Cooperation between Japan and Germany

The Ministry of Innovation, Science and Research of the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) sponsored a workshop on “S&T Cooperation between Japan and NRW.” Held on 22 September at Museum Koenig in Bonn, the workshop was cosponsored by Consulate General of Japan in Düsseldorf and JSPS.

The workshop started off with remarks from Mr. Helmut Dockter, Deputy Minister of Innovation, Science and Research of NRW, Mr. Kiyoshi Koinuma, Consul General of Japan in Düsseldorf, and Prof. Dr. Keiichi Kodaira, director, JSPS Bonn Office. Then, Dr. Walter Mönig, director for European affairs, Federal Ministry of Education and Research, and Mr. Katsuhisa Sagisaka, director, International Science and Technology Affairs Division, Science and Technology Policy Bureau, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), offered reciprocal descriptions of S&T policies in the EU and Japan.

Various EU programs aimed at Japan were introduced and examples of them elaborated. Also introduced were EU programs to which Japanese researchers are eligible to apply via agreement-based collaborations between MEXT, JSPS and the Japan Science and Technology Agency and their counterpart German and other European agencies. A concluding session titled “Project Pitches” gave six researchers the opportunity to make a 5-minute presentation of their projects. Among them, Prof. Dr. Akira Matsumura, University of Tsukuba (deputy director, Tsukuba University Hospital) introduced his research project on boron neutron capture as a next-generation cancer therapy.

The workshop was held as a pre-event for celebrating the 150^th anniversary of Japanese-German exchange in 2011. The JSPS Bonn Office has on slate a number of other commemorative events to be held in Germany over the next year.

― JSPS Bonn Office