AIST Concludes MOU with Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and Participates in High Level Forum in Grenoble
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FhG President Bullinger (left) and AIST President Nomakuchi (right) |
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At the High Level Forum From left: Mr. Iljic of the French Embassy, AIST Vice-President Seto, AIST President Nomakuchi and a forum clerk |
Dr. Tamotsu Nomakuchi, AIST President, visited Germany last July 6, 2012 to conclude a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on comprehensive research cooperation with Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (FhG), and to participate in a round table discussion in Stuttgart. This was followed by a visit to Grenoble, France to participate in the High Level Forum held on July 9-10 along with Mr. Kenichi Ichihara, mayor off Tsukuba City, and other prominent dignitaries.
Dr. Nomakuchi signed the MOU with Dr. Hans-Jörg Bullinger, FhG President. Prior to the conclusion of the MOU with FhG, AIST has already concluded comprehensive MOUs with 34 research institutions from 18 countries. FhG becomes the fourth institution in Germany which has concluded a comprehensive MOU with AIST (the other three institutions being Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, Forschungszentrum Jülich and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology), and thereby brings the total number of institutions having comprehensive MOUs with AIST to 35.
AIST has been strengthening its relationship with FhG through personnel exchange, holding of cooperative workshops and conducting collaborative research. The conclusion of the MOU is expected to further accelerate research cooperation between the two institutes in the future. There were also meaningful exchanges of opinion during the round table discussion on topics such as risk assessment of nano carbon materials.
On the other hand, the High Level Forum in Grenoble was sponsored by Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA) and Grenoble Innovation for Advanced New Technologies (GIANT). The purpose of the forum was to gather representatives of industry-academia-government collaboration from all over the world to exchange opinions concerning the promotion of innovation. Out of the eleven countries represented, in addition to Dr. Nomakuchi and Mr. Ichihara, Dr. Sukekatsu Ushioda, president of the National Institute for Materials Science, Dr. Minoru Yonekura, Vice President of the University of Tsukuba, and Dr. Masahiro Seto, Vice-President of AIST, participated in the forum as representatives from Japan. Four round table discussions were held on topics concerning the circumstances for establishing innovation bases, present activities and future developments, and the status of industry-academia-government collaboration bases in each region.
Re-extension of Memorandum of Understanding on Comprehensive Research Cooperation with CSIRO of Australia and Workshop
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At the signing ceremony for reextension of the MOU CSIRO Executive Director Bloom(left) and AIST Vice-President Seto (right) |
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Group photo at the workshop |
On March 5-6, 2012, Vice-President Seto and 20 persons from AIST visited the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization(CSIRO), the largest national institute in Australia with which AIST has concluded a memorandum of understanding on comprehensive research cooperation (MOU). A signing ceremony for the re-extension of the MOU and a workshop were held in Brisbane.
At the workshop, there was an exchange of opinions centered on the fields of environment and energy, geology, and life science, and in addition, information concerning the innovation promotion strategies and the public relations activities particular to each institution was exchanged.
Prior to the workshop, the AIST group visited the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute (GCCSI) in Canberra on March 2. There was an exchange of opinions regarding AIST joining GCCSI to promote further carbon capture and storage research of AIST.
(Reference) GCCSI: At the 2008 G8 Toyako Summit, the Australian Government led in establishing GCCSI, an international organization, to promote CO2 capture and storage.
