Press Releases Archive
01.03.2019
Dōshisha University opens branch office at the University of Tübingen
The new office launched by the Japanese university intents to intensify collaboration with the University of Tübingen and establish European partnerships.
An international symposium was held on Wednesday, February 27, 2019, announcing the opening of a Dōshisha branch office at the University of Tübingen. This “Dōshisha EU Campus” is currently the only European branch of the renowned Japanese private university in Kyoto. It coordinates academic exchange and collaboration between Dōshisha University and the University of Tübingen, as well as establishing and supporting further partnerships in Europe.
The President of Dōshisha University, Professor Takashi Matsuoka, and the President of the University of Tübingen, Professor Bernd Engler, signed a memorandum of understanding on the occasion of the opening of the Dōshisha branch office. The declaration envisages further collaboration between the two universities including joint conferences, semester programs with language courses and intercultural training for Japanese students as well as the exchange of scientists. In research, existing collaborations are to be intensified and new projects initiated, particularly in the natural and life sciences as well as in the humanities and social sciences. An agreement on strategic cooperation is planned for 2020, setting out the activities of the “Dōshisha EU Campus” in greater detail.
Professor Engler welcomed the new office: “We have maintained a close partnership with Dōshisha University for decades. The fact that Tübingen is now the center of all activities of Dōshisha in Europe underlines the importance of our university in cooperation with Japan.” The University of Tübingen provides Dōshisha University with offices and seminar rooms and a representative from Japan has now moved into the branch office at Keplerstraße 2.
Scientific collaboration between Tübingen and Kyoto was also a key topic at the opening symposium of the Dōshisha EU Campus on February 27-28. The interdisciplinary event dealt with “Challenges for Aging Societies” from Japanese, German and European perspectives. Alongside researchers from Kyoto and Tübingen, the symposium was also attended by the Vice President for International Affairs at Dōshisha University, Professor Gregory Poole, and Professor Yoshihiko Wada, Director of the “Dōshisha EU Campus”.
The partnership between Dōshisha University and the University of Tübingen has existed since 1990. Tübingen established an office at Dōshisha University in Kyoto in 1993 – the Tübingen Center for Japanese Studies. This center is still the only branch office of a European university at a university in Japan. The “Dōshisha EU Campus” in Tübingen is now its counterpart. The office is part of an initiative to internationalize universities in Japan, which is supported by the Japanese government.
One of the most recent joint projects of Dōshisha University and the University of Tübingen is the exchange of lecturers for short and long-term stays, which was agreed in October 2018 and will start in late summer 2019. Immediately before the symposium on 25 February 2019, two agreements in the field of sports science were also concluded. In addition to a general agreement on exchange and cooperation in research and teaching, the universities also agreed on a student exchange project for sports science.
Contact:
Dr. Karin Moser v. Filseck
University of Tübingen
Research department
International research partnerships
Phone +49 7071 29-77353
karin.moser@uni-tuebingen.de
