Uni-Tübingen

Doshisha University

The partnership with Dōshisha University in Kyoto started in the year 1990 and led to the establishment of the first branch office of the University of Tübingen in East Asia already three years later, in 1993: the Tübingen Center for Japanese Language in Kyoto, later called Tübingen Center for Japanese Studies at Dōshisha University (TCJS, German: Tübinger Zentrum für Japanstudien an der Dōshisha Universität). This was the first branch office of a German (and European) University at a Japanese University.

One of the main tasks of the TCJS is to provide teaching for the students of Japanese Studies of the University of Tübingen, who spend one year of study abroad in Kyoto as part of the regular Bachelor program. The Center also supports research collaborations and exchange between both universities and between the University of Tübingen and other Japanese Institutions.

In 2018, Dōshisha University has established as a reciprocal institution to the Tübingen Center their external campus in Germany (and Europe): the Doshisha EU Campus at Tübingen University. Its activities comprise, among others, regular semester programs for Dōshisha students at EU Campus in Tübingen, jointly organized international symposia in Kyoto and Tübingen, annual Doshisha Weeks in Tübingen, and a Faculty Exchange Program for researchers from both universities.

Dōshisha University has been a strategic partner of the University of Tübingen since more than ten years. Collaborations in research, study and teaching are going far beyond Japanese Studies and include meanwhile all Faculties of the University (see below Projects).

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On November 28, 2025, President Prof. Dr. Karla Pollmann and President Prof. Dr. Katsuhiro Kohara met in Kyoto, one day before Doshisha University’s 150th anniversary. Their discussion focused on the long-standing cooperation between Doshisha University and the University of Tübingen, as well as joint activities in teaching and research. Future prospects for collaboration were also discussed. Each of the universities has maintained an office at the other for many years.

Funding opportunities

  • Exchange of Cooperation Partners
  • International Joint Summer Schools/Workshops
  • Funding as part of the Faculty Exchange Program, signed in 2018: Researchers from both universities have the opportunity to spend a short-term research stay at Dōshisha University or at the University of Tübingen (up to 3 months), or a long-term stay (up to 6 months, from Doshisha in Tübingen up to 12 months). Two researchers per year per university can be funded, one for a short-term, the other for a long-term stay. More details of the application process on the Tübingen side can be found here
  • In addition, funding is offered by both universities to their researchers for participation in the jointly organized international symposia and for the realization of these conferences alternately at the University of Tübingen and at Dōshisha University.

Highlighted projects

Branch offices
Cooperation of the two branch offices of the University of Tübingen in Kyoto (Tübingen Center for Japanese Studies at Dōshisha University, TCJS) and Seoul (Tübingen Center for Korean Studies at Korea University, TUCKU) together with the Departments of Japanese Studies and Korean Studies from the University’s Institute for Asian and Oriental Studies (AOI) since 2015. They have organized a series of conferences and are supporting further joint activities.

International interdisciplinary symposia Dōshisha-Tübingen
International interdisciplinary symposia Dōshisha-Tübingen organized since 2018 in the framework of Doshisha EU Campus were focused on diverse research subjects (Internationalism, Aging Societies, Diversity, Sustainable Development). The symposium 2025 has taken place in March at Dōshisha University in Kyoto with the title “Humans and AI: Coexistence and Conscience – Toward a Future Where Humans and AI Develop Together for the Improvement of Society”. For more information see the report of Dōshisha: https://research.doshisha.ac.jp/news/news-detail-72/

Doshisha Weeks 
Doshisha Weeks (DWs) at the University of Tübingen are organized by the EU Campus annually since 2019 on two days in autumn, if possible. The focus is either directed towards a research theme or to students and teaching. At DW 2024, for the first time, doctoral candidates from both universities have presented their research. This format will be continued in 2025 and 2026.

Cooperation in Gender and Diversity Studies since 2021
As follow-up of the symposium 2020 researchers from both universities meet regularly online for an exchange about different research themes of Gender and Diversity. The joint activity is coordinated from the Tübingen side by the Center for Gender and Diversity Research (ZGD) of the University. A workshop in Kyoto in the framework of the TCJS anniversary event 2023 gave the opportunity for the scholars to meet in person. Online communications between the researchers are ongoing.

30th Anniversary Celebrations of TCJS in October 2023 at Dōshisha University
Several academic events were organized for this occasion besides a ceremonial reception: a roundtable reflecting the cooperation between the two universities over the past ten years, a research forum focusing on research collaborations of the University of Tübingen and Japanese institutions in the natural sciences, life sciences and medical sciences, and four workshops on gender studies, sustainable development, Japanese language teaching, and on metaphor, allegory and truth in interreligious and intercultural perspectives. On that occasion, the honorary doctoral degree of Dōshisha University was bestowed upon the President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Tübingen, Karla Pollmann, and an MoU between the Faculties of Law of both universities as well as the continuation of the Faculty Exchange Agreement were signed. 

News

International Symposium in 2025 at Dōshisha University

The fifth international symposium in the framework of Doshisha EU Campus activities was organized at Dōshisha University in Kyoto on the 11th and 12th March 2025. This time the subject has been “Humans and AI: Coexistence and Conscience – Toward a Future Where Humans and AI Develop Together for the Improvement of Society”. After keynote lectures from Dōshisha and University of Tübingen, a panel on “Humans and AI” followed, dedicated to ethical questions on the one side, the future of communication (human-machine) and the Brain and AI on the other side. The second conference day comprised three different research areas in two panels: 1. AI in Space Technology and Medical Sciences, 2. AI and Legal Challenges. Here you can find the report of Dōshisha: https://research.doshisha.ac.jp/news/news-detail-72/


Celebration of the 150th anniversary of the founding of Dōshisha University in Kyoto

On the 29th November 2025 Dōshisha University will celebrate the 150th anniversary of its foundation in Kyoto. This is not only related to Dōshisha University but to the whole institution of “The Dōshisha”. More on the History of Dōshisha

The President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Tübingen, Karla Pollmann, will join the celebration together with a small delegation of members of the university. In this framework, a personal meeting of President Pollmann with the President of Dōshisha University, Prof. Dr. Katsuhiro Kohara, followed by a public conversation will be arranged on 28th Nov and a congratulatory address to be given by President Pollmann at the Dōshisha 150th Anniversary Celebration on 29th Nov.

Contact for more information: Dr. Karin Moser v. Filseck, Division II 1.2 IFK
karin.moser-von-filseckspam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de, Phone 29-77353