Penn State's strategic partner, Tohoku University, recently hosted Lee Kump, Dean of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences and Professor of Geosciences at Penn State for a visit to their campus in Sendai, Japan. During his visit, Kump met with Tohoku University senior leadership members, including Masahiro Yamaguchi, Vice President for Education Reform and Global Engagement; Takeshi Kakegawa, Professor at the Graduate School of Science and a graduate of Penn State; Yoshitaka Kasukabe, Professor Emeritus and Specially Appointed Professor at the Global Learning Center; and Yumiko Watanabe, Specially Appointed Professor at the Global Learning Center and an alumnus of Penn State. The talks are to be around improving Tohoku University's International Research Excellence initiative, focusing on increasing research collaboration and academic exchange between the two.
“Already one of the premier research universities in Japan, Tohoku is poised to take research excellence to the next level with a focus on international collaboration”, said Kump. “As a key partner in that effort, Penn State, its students and faculty, will benefit tremendously if we seize the opportunity”.
For decades, faculty champions from both universities have played a significant role in research collaborations. However, the partnership remained as individual faculty-to-faculty linkages before 2022. In efforts to facilitate university-wide, institutional partnership between Penn State and Tohoku University, Anna Marshall, associate director for Asia partnerships at Penn State Global, and Kasukabe met regularly at national and international conferences since 2022. With a commitment to a long-term, multi-dimensional partnership, they have strategized to expand collaborations.
Moving forward, Furlong and Kakegawa said they plan to create a joint Tohoku-Penn State graduate course. Based on strategic goals and student interests, the initial topic for this course will focus on aspects of disaster science. The course will be taught in a hybrid mode, involving both synchronous and asynchronous remote-education components, plus one or more in-person, co-located activities. Furthermore, two universities consider running a virtual joint exploratory research symposium to foster collaborations at the post-graduate and faculty levels.
“We are grateful to many faculty and alumni for championing our on-going collaborations”, says Marshall. “Now with Tohoku’s new designation as the recipient of the remarkable ‘University for International Research Excellence’ award in Japan, our partnership enters an exciting chapter. We are deepening our research and education collaborations towards common goals of solving global problems and making positive impacts on both local and global communities”.
Tohoku University received news from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan that it has been officially accredited as the 'University for International Research Excellenc'. As the first university to receive this recognition in Japan, Tohoku will lead the research capabilities of the entire country, aiming to become a research university of the world's highest standard. To foster Tohoku’s research capabilities to the world’s top level, the government will provide a 10 trillion yen (approximately $64 billion) national university fund for up to 25 years starting in 2024. Following its official designation, Tohoku University is expected to receive an initial grant of 10 billion yen (approximately $64 million) by the end of the fiscal year 2024.
“I am thrilled to hear about Tohoku University winning this exceptional award”, said Sabine Klahr, interim vice provost for Penn State Global. “As I congratulate it on this extraordinary achievement, I envision the long-term collaboration between Penn State and Tohoku University will bring innovative solutions and impactful outcomes for years to come”.
