During his recent visit, Professor Kobayashi engaged with leading academic figures at Durham University, including Professor Claire O'Malley, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Global), Professor Colin Bain, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research), and Professor Clive Roberts, Executive Dean of the Science Faculty. The discussions highlighted Durham’s expertise in cutting-edge fields such as space and satellite applications, quantum engineering, and photonics. Professor Kobayashi also took the opportunity to meet with faculty members and learn more about the university’s significant contributions to these innovative research areas.
Professor Kobayashi, Japan's biggest funder of research, recently joined the Durham Showcase of Research Initiative and attended a meeting of the vibrant JSPS alumni at Durham University. The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) is important for mutual collaborative research and funding for grants and fellowships between the two nations in subjects such as developmental psychology and quantum science.
The visit also coincided with a delegation of early-career researchers from Durham, who attended two RENKEI workshops held in Japan. Researchers from the Law School, Departments of Engineering and Sociology, and several Durham institutes attended workshops at Keio University and Kyushu University. These workshops concentrated on the enhancement of health technologies, community-based medical research, and renewable energy technologies toward the building of long-term research networks and development of collaborative research proposals with the Japanese counterparts. The delegation from Durham also attended the British Council workshop for enhancing gender equity in higher education.
Durham joined RENKEI, the Japan-UK Research and Education Network for Knowledge Economy Initiatives, in 2021. This network, consisting of eleven prestigious universities, helps foster research connections to address global challenges. Following these workshops, Durham will host a follow-up RENKEI event in May 2025 focused on Just Transitions to a Net Zero World, led by the JusTN0W initiative, aimed at developing interdisciplinary research to accelerate decarbonization and promote societal well-being.
Durham has a long history with collaborations in Japan across multiple disciplines dating back decades. The nearly 200 Japanese partners formed with Durham researchers have successfully produced over 600 jointly published articles in the past five years. Thereby, collaborations cover broad climate change, energy, health, space technologies, as well as emerging technologies themes.
The university has also produced seminal research: deep-sea mining projects, interventions for health issues during volcanic eruptions, and even a mission on the XRISM space with the Japanese Space Agency, NASA, and the European Space Agency. In addition, Durham has exchange programs with eleven universities in Japan and has an active relationship with the Japanese multinationals located in the North East of England. All these continue to find solutions to challenges affecting humanity worldwide.
