Gifu Joint Degree Symposium 2020 opened

The “Gifu Joint Degree Symposium 2020” webinar was held on Tuesday, December 8 and Wednesday, December 9, 2020. It marked the second joint degree (JD) symposium after the first symposium held in 2019 to commemorate the launching of four new international graduate programs with two overseas universities. The following are the symposium schedule:

Day 1 – Main Symposium (in the morning of December 8) hosted by the Tokai National Higher Education and Research System (THERS)

Day 1 - Academic Session (in the afternoon of December 8) moderated by Gifu University Organization for Promotion of Glocalization (GU-GLOCAL)

Day 2 - Industry-Government-Academia-Banking Institution Collaboration Session (in the afternoon of December 9), also moderated by GU-GLOCAL

Under the main theme,“Joint Degree Programs in the Post-Coronavirus Era” with a subtitle, “Internationalization of Education and Research & Regional Revitalization,” the Main Symposium began with the opening speech by THERS Chancellor Seiichi Matsuo (President of Nagoya University). He stated that there are 10 JD programs (JDP) implemented by THERS which account for 40 percent of all JDP conducted across the country. After his speech, Dr. Makoto Sugiyama, Vice President (General Manager and International Affairs) of Gifu University (moderator of the session), introduced Professor Yoshihiko Uematsu, GU-GLOCAL Executive Director as a first speaker. Professor Uematsu spoke about the status and prospects of four JDP currently undertaken by three universities, namely, Gifu University, the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati (IITG, India) and the National University of Malaysia (UKM, Malaysia). It was followed by the presentations by two Gifu University professors in charge of JDP: Professor Akio Ebihara (from the Faculty of Applied Biological Sciences) and Professor Testuji Kume (from the Faculty of Engineering). They expanded their discussions for the development of highly skilled personnel capable of coping with challenges posed by glocal businesses and industry by offering students the master’s program, “International Joint Department of Food Science and Technology between Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati and Gifu University.”

After their speeches, congratulatory video messages from the presidents of IITG and UKM were put on the screen. They were: Prof. Dr. T. G. Sitharam, Director of IITG, and Prof. Dato’ Ir. Dr. Mohd. Marzuki bin Mustafa, Vice-Chancellor of UKM.

As a guest speaker, Mr. Yoshinori Hakui, Director-General, Higher Education Bureau, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan, gave a keynote speech regarding international educational exchanges in the post-pandemic world, measures to promote exchanges and examples of individual projects. His speech was followed by the presentation of Vice President Kazuhito Kawakita (International Affairs) of Nagoya University.

Later, with Professor Uematsu as a chairperson, discussions continued among three invited guests over goals, merits and growth potentials of JDP. They were: Associate Professor Masato Takagi from Kyoto Institute of Technology and Chiang Mai University Joint Master’s Degree Program in Architecture, Associate Professor Kazuya Shimizu (Joint Degree Coordinator) from Sustainable Environmental Studies, the University of Tsukuba, and Mr. Kuniaki Sato from Higher Education Bureau, MEXT. At the end of the discussions, Professor Uematsu proposed an establishment of a consortium among Japanese universities implementing JDP, and Mr. Sato expressed his willingness to support this nationwide JDP consortium initiative.

In closing the Main Symposium, President of Gifu University Hisataka Moriwaki (THERS Vice Chancellor) pledged that in close cooperation with the MEXT, the university takes a leading role in establishing JDP consortium to further facilitate robust international exchanges throughout Japan.

In the following Academic Session, Professor Hiroyuki Koyama, GU-GLOCAL Associate Director led the session to discuss “Glocalization for Sustainable Development of Regions.” Participants exchanged ideas on regional initiatives, development plans and case studies of eco-friendly, smart technologies initiated by local industries. Later, guest speakers from IITG, UKM, Kyoto University, and Tokyo Metropolitan University delivered their research presentations in English online.

At the final “Industry-Government-Academia-Banking Institution Collaboration Session” on December 9, under the subtitle of “Regional Revitalization (with a special focus on the Tokai region (Japan), Northeast India and Malaysia) through International Joint Degree Programs,” participants shared information and engaged in discussions on programs/projects conducted within the framework of industry-government-academia-banking institution collaboration while reviewing the previous Academic Session. Representatives from domestic businesses, financial organizations, government and university officials presented their thoughts about regional revitalization, advantages that JDP could bring for the benefit of local communities, etc.

For two days, a total of 325 people attended the symposium (166 for Main Symposium, 81 for Academic Session, and 78 for Industry-Government-Academia-Banking Institution Collaboration Session). Thanks to a kind support and dedication from all people concerned, “Gifu Joint Degree Symposium 2020” shed new light on various aspects of JDP and left another important milestone in the history of JDP.

Click here for presentation of Mr. Yoshinori Hakui from MEXT (Japanese only).

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    Participants in Main Symposium

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    Participants in Academic Session

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    Participants in Industry-Government-Academia-Banking Institution Collaboration Session

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