A New Dawn for UM-Japan Partnerships
As part of Japan Week in Occitanie, the University of Montpellier and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science organized a day of discussions on international academic cooperation between France and Japan on November 30.
This was an opportunity to discuss and strengthen the various collaborative efforts between our university and our Japanese partners.
"The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) reports directly to Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Monbukagakusho). It is somewhat equivalent to Campus France,”explains Jean-Marie Pincemin, head of the Cooperation Department (Scoop) within the International Relations Division. Thus, Director Kazuhiko Saigo and his colleagues Junko Fujimoto and Chika Koda traveled from Strasbourg, home to the JSPS office for Southern Europe, to participate in this day of discussions, attended by, among others, the Consul General of Japan in Marseille, Yukuo Murata, President Philippe Augé, and Patrick Caron, Vice President for International Relations.“Not all countries have this type of representation, but Japan recognizes France as a major scientific partner,” the department head continued.
Human Adventures
The goal of this event is to promote scientific cooperation by highlighting cooperation programs—and in particular funding opportunities—for researchers seeking to strengthen or initiate collaboration with Japan.“Every year, the JSPS issues a call forapplications open to all Professors female faculty members.” “We took advantage of this event to invite the three current UM recipients to share their experiences by presenting their projects,” continues Jean-Marie Pincemin. Nicolas Louvain and Werner Paulus, researchers at the Charles Gerhardt Institute in Montpellier, and Marc Willinger from the Montpellier Center for Environmental Economics, thus came to share their experiences.
“One of the DRI’s missions is to inform the UM scientific community that these opportunities exist and that we are here to support them if they are interested in pursuing them,” explains Jean-Marie Pincemin. The testimonials from Julien Audemard, Bruno Clair, and Sandrine Bardet—all alumni—also helped highlight the human side of international collaboration by sharing stories about their daily lives and those of their families in Japan.
Institutional and Industrial Partnerships
Other funding sources can also enable French researchers to establish partnerships and participate in exchange programs in Japan.“Campus France has an office in every embassy through which the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs funds cooperation programs,” explains Scoop, the department director. This is particularly true of the Hubert Curien Partnerships (PHC), which operate on the principle of reciprocal funding, “with each country funding the travel expenses of its own teams.”In the case of Japan, it is the Sakura PHC that enables doctoral students, faculty members, and researchers to undertake scientific stays as part of two-year projects.
Japanese companies are also excellent partners for university research. In his opening remarks, Philippe Augé highlighted the strong ties established between UM and Horiba Medical, a company based in Montpellier: This was illustrated by the company’s Deputy CEO, Mr. Sylvain Jacquemin, who highlighted research projects, the hosting of student interns, and the funding of CIFRE doctoral contracts, in partnership with the Pathogenesis & Control of Chronic Infections Laboratoryled by Philippe Van de Perre.
A wide range of shared research topics
Renowned as a global leader in the tech sector, Japan also has some lesser-known characteristics.“Consul Yukuo Murata noted in his presentation that 70% of Japan is covered by forests,” says Jean-Marie Pincemin; “it is in this context that interesting connections have been forged with the wood engineering master’s program, for example.”
“Like Europe, Japan faces challenges related to its aging population and is developing numerous projects in the fields of medicine and technology, as well as in ethics, law, sociology, and economics. It is also a highly agricultural country… The opportunities for collaboration between our two countries are potentially vast and highly diverse,” concluded the head of the Scoop.