Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

GRC African Summit

Group Photo

Outline

Date

November 24-25, 2014

Venue

Stellenbosch, South Africa

Organizers

Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)
National Research Foundation (NRF) (South Africa)
National Commission on Research, Science and Technology (NCRST) (Namibia)

Supporting Organization

German Research Foundation (DFG) (Germany)

Program

Download Program (PDF/188KB)
① Africa-HORCs Meeting
② NRF-NCRST-JSPS Academic Symposium
③ GRC Africa Regional Meeting

Overview

On 24-25 November 2014, JSPS, NRF and NCRST jointly held the GRC African Summit in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

For the following purposes, this summit was held as a preliminary event to the 4th GRC Annual Meeting to be held in Tokyo on 27-28 May 2015:
  1. To establish a network among African research funding agencies
  2. To enhance and expand international cooperative networks between African research funding agencies and other research funding agencies around the world
  3. To promote academic exchange and international collaboration between African countries and Japan

Attending the event were more than 100 participants, including the heads and representatives of research funding agencies in African countries, Japan, Germany and the US, and senior representatives from government agencies and international organizations, and researchers from universities and research institutes. Attending from Japan, JSPS president Dr. Yuichiro Anzai offered remarks on behalf of JSPS as one of the Summit’s co-hosting organizations.

This summit featured the following three events:

① Africa-HORCs Meeting
② NRF-NCRST-JSPS Academic Symposium
③ GRC Africa Regional Meeting

The Africa-HORCs Meeting advanced an open-format discussion among the participants on the future of African research funding agencies and their international collaborations with developed and developing countries.

Held in parallel with the GRC African Regional Meeting, the NRF-NCRST-JSPS Academic Symposium focused on the themes “Infectious Diseases” and “Food and Agriculture,” pursued through introductions to bilateral joint research carried out between Japan and African countries and a spirited discussion on advancing scientific exchange and international joint research between them.

The participants’ active engagement in this Summit made the 2-day event a very successful step in advancing scientific cooperation between Africa and Japan and other countries of the world.
Dr. Anzai giving a speech
Dr. Anzai giving a speech
Open discussion
Open discussion
Participants attentively listening to discussions
Participants attentively listening to discussions
Participants attentively listening to discussions
Participants attentively listening to discussions
Symposium-Session1: Infectious Diseases-
Symposium-Session1: Infectious Diseases-
Symposium-Session2: Food & Agriculture-
Symposium-Session2: Food & Agriculture-

Participants

Main Participating Organizations

Japan: JSPS, Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST)
Africa: NRF, NCRST, and other African research agencies
Other areas: DFG, National Science Foundation (NSF) (the US)

Invited Japanese Moderator and Speakers for the Symposium

(Session 1: Infectious Diseases)
Speaker: Prof.Yasuhiko Suzuki, Professor, Research Center for Zoonosis Control, Hokkaido University
Speaker: Prof.Masahiro Hashizume, Professor, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University
(Session 2: Food and Agriculture)
Moderator:
Prof.Shuichi Asanuma, Professor, International Cooperation Center for Agriculture Education, Nagoya University
Speaker: Prof.Morio Iijima, Professor, Faculty of Agriculture, Kinki University