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International Exchange Activities Outline

Because it is necessary to consider the future of science and technology on a global scale, the IIS promotes international academic exchanges by conducting joint studies with foreign researchers and educational activities for international students. Programs are held with research organizations of various countries through international academic agreements, exchanges of academic information at IIS symposia, inviting foreign researchers, organizing colloquiums for the delivery of lectures by foreign scholars, and providing opportunities for the promotion of personal communication among individual researchers from other countries. The idea of appointing foreign members to the faculty and sending young Japanese researchers to other countries is encouraged.

Foreign Organizations with Research Cooperation Agreements


1987	Dalian University of Technology	P.R.China
1994	Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique	France
1996	College of Engineering, University of Hawaii at Manoa	U.S.A.
2001	University of Southampton	U.K.
2005	Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics	P.R.China
2006	Business School, Imperial College London	U.K.
2006	College of Engineering, National Tsing Hua University	Taiwan
2007	University of Glasgow	U.K.
2007	Kunming University of Science and Technology	P.R.China
2008	Ecole Normale Superieure de Cachan	France
2009	Tsinghua University	P.R.China
2009	School of Naval Architecture, Ocean & Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University	P.R.China
2010	University of Würzburg	Germany
2010	School of Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering, Seoul National University	Korea

The IIS Symposia

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Programs for Inviting Foreign Researchers and Sending Researchers to Other Countries

Programs for inviting foreign researchers and sending Japanese researchers to other countries are conducted. A short-term program of one- to three-months duration is offered to researchers from abroad. Programs for sending researchers to other countries, granted by the Foundation for the Promotion of Industrial Science, are arranged to assist faculty members, members of technical support staff, graduate students, and others to attend international conferences or reside on a short-term basis for academic exchange activities.

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Foreign Members of the Faculty and International Students

Appointing foreigners to the faculty, whether to research departments or visiting chairs, is encouraged. Further, a number of international students are admitted to receive education and training as graduate and research students. International exchange meetings for both foreign researchers and students, and Japanese members of the faculty are conducted annually.

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Scholars Visiting Overseas and International Students at the Institute of Industrial Science (IIS)

As of January 1 every year

		2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
	Visiting Research Fellows	9	13	13	15	6
	Visiting Research Associates	7	5	3	5	12
	Postdoctoral Fellows	27	36	12	13	5
	Predoctoral Fellows	-	-	5	9	2
	Todai Postdoctoral Research Fellows	-	-	13	16	15
	Doctoral Program Students	93	90	98	113	93
	Master's Program Students	66	79	71	58	72
	Research Students	9	3	4	10	8
	Graduate School Research Students	18	17	21	17	22
The numbers of Predoctoral Fellows and Todai Postdoctoral Research Fellows were included in the number of Postdoctoral Fellows before 2008.

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Global Collaborative Research Initiative

Global collaborative research initiative

The global collaborative research initiative at the IIS, the University of Tokyo, is a project set up to promote the multifaceted strategic integration of national and international research networks. Through this initiative, the IIS hopes to create novel academic fields by undertaking international research initiatives, and consequently address new global challenges raised by academic development and social paradigm shifts. Within the IIS, individual laboratories with similar research interests independently pursue many research activities. As a result, several research centers have been established to promote collaborative research.

Such research centers play a central role in collaborations with overseas research organizations in a project initiated by the IIS in 2005 to achieve its goal of becoming an international center of research excellence. Currently, the following six centers are engaged in this type of activity:

- Center for International Research on Micronano Mechatronics
- International Center for Urban Safety Engineering
- International Research Center for Sustainable Materials
- Underwater Technology Research Center
- Advanced Mobility Research Center (ITS Center)
- Nanoelectronics Collaborative Research Center

Overseas offices for collaborative research have already been set up in Paris, Bangkok, and Toronto.

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Joint Research Laboratory for Integrated Micro-Mechatronic Systems (LIMMS) with Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), France

Laboratory for Integrated Micro-Mechatronic Systems (LIMMS), located at IIS, was established in 1995 in coordination with Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) to conduct cooperative research programs on Micro- and Nano- Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS/NEMS) by inviting French researchers for a period of two–three years each. Three institutes with CNRS, namely, Laboratoire d’Analyse et d’Architecture des Systèmes (LAAS) in Toulouse, Franche-Comté Electronique, Mécanique, Thermique et Optique-Sciences et Technologies (FEMTO-ST) in Besançon, and L’Institut d’Électronique, de Microélectronique et de Nanotechnologies (IEMN) in Lille have been the parent organizations of visiting researchers; at present, more than 10 CNRS institutes are enrolled in this program. In total, 16 faculty members of the University of Tokyo have joined as host professors, and more than 90 French researchers have been welcomed. Since 2004, LIMMS has been promoted to Unité Mixte Internationale (UMI) of CNRS as the first one located in Asia. Recent research topics of LIMMS include micromachined tools for atom/molecule handling and observation, semiconductor opto- and electronic devices, bioengineering devices, and fundamental micro/nano fabrication technologies.

LIMMS Steering Committee in February, 2010

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International Activities of the International Center for Urban Safety Engineering (ICUS)

The International Center for Urban Safety Engineering (ICUS) was established in 2001 with the goal of developing new systems and methods for protecting people from the accidents and disasters that may occur in everyday life in urban areas around the world. The Center’s research includes infrastructure design and maintenance, development of monitoring methods to prevent and guide people in the case of accidents and disasters, and safety analysis and evaluation of important facilities - not only in Japan but also in other Asian mega cities. As such, ICUS works in cooperation with researchers and engineers throughout the world.

Since its inception, ICUS has been actively involved in establishing international collaborations. In 2002, ICUS established the Regional Network Office for Urban Safety (RNUS) at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Bangkok, Thailand, followed by the establishment of the Bangladesh Network Office for Urban Safety (BNUS) at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2006. These offices continue to be actively involved in promoting research, networking and dissemination of results through seminars and workshops. To further promote international collaboration between academic institutions, ICUS has signed many memorandums of understanding (MoU) with many institutions around the world. In addition, every year ICUS organizes the International Symposium on New Technologies for Urban Safety of Mega Cities in Asia (USMCA). In 2010, the ninth USMCA was held in Kobe, Japan, with the cooperation of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), the Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC), the Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution, the Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies at Kyoto University, the Research Center for Urban Safety and Security at Kobe University, the United Nations Center for Regional Development, and the United Nations University Institute for Sustainability and Peace (UNU-SP). More than 125 people from 21 countries participated in this two-day symposium, which helped to strength international ties and build social networks between people from different backgrounds and perspectives.

Participants of the 9th USMCA in Kobe, Japan in October, 2010

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International Collaboration Research Program with Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology

The IIS and Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (FC/HCMUT), signed an agreement to cooperate and enhance research and education for sustainable utilization of biomass resources in February 2006. Under this agreement, the IIS established the Branch Office of IIS/UT in HCMUT (http://www.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp/branch_office/top-e.html) as a base for activities and is conducting an international collaboration research program on biomass utilization in Southeast Asia.

Together with faculty members of HCMUT after the branch office opening ceremony

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Collaborative Research in Urban Safety at Chula Unisearch Chulalongkorn University, Thailand

IIS opened the Chula Unisearch office at Chulalongkorn University in July 2006. Located in the heart of Bangkok, this office is intended to serve as a platform for collaborative research among universities and research centers, and was recently moved to a newer building to enhance ease of use and convenience. IIS and Chula Unisearch also jointly organized a symposium on environmental and disaster management along with the 4th IIS Thai alumni party in December 2010 and another symposium on water resources management in January 2011.

Participants in the 2010 IIS Alumni

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Activities of the Branch Office of the Institute of Industrial Science / The University of Tokyo established in the University of Toronto

Since the branch office of IIS, the University of Tokyo (IIS/UT) was opened in the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, University of Toronto (FASE/UT) in 2006, collaborative research on sustainable research has been conducted through the “Consortium on Sustainable Materials (COSM).” When the agreement was established between the two institutions in September 2006, an opening ceremony was held with the attendance of 12 professors including Prof. Amon, Dean of FASE, and approximately 10 researchers as well as students from FASE/UT, and four professors from IIS/UT. There have been active interactions between the faculty and students from both sides, as well as international collaboration. The workshops were conducted four times in June 2007 and August 2009 at FASE/UT, in June 2008 at IIS/UT and in June 2010 at Hongo Campus/UT. This office is mostly used for managing COSM and also serves as a temporary office for visitors from the IIS.

The 3rd COSM workshop at FASE/UT in 2009

The 3rd COSM workshop at FASE/UT in 2009

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Activities of the Branch Office of the Institute of Industrial Science, Established through Collaboration between University of Tokyo and Kunming University of Science and Technology

An agreement to conduct collaborative research program between the Institute of Industrial Science, the University of Tokyo (IIS/UT), and Kunming University of Science and Technology (KUST), P. R. China, was established in February, 2008. The office was opened in the Department of Vacuum Metallurgy, KUST, on 19 May, 2008. Collaborative studies on sustainable research have been conducted through the “Consortium on Energy Materials.” Collaborative research was initiated by Prof. Kazuki Morita of IIS, also serving as a guest professor at KUST since 2006, and Prof. Wenhui Ma of KUST; the main focus of the research was the development of solar-grade silicon refining technology. The office and laboratories are used conducting the collaborative research, and can serve as a temporary office for visitors from IIS.

China-Japan Joint Forum on Energy and Environmental Issues for Metallurgical and Material Processes was held at KUST, China on 26-29 September, 2009. Nine researchers from China and eight members of International Research Center for Sustainable Materials from Japan gave talks.

China-Japan Joint Forum on Energy and Environmental Issues
for Metallurgical and Material Processes at KUST

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International Collaboration at Advanced Mobility Research Center/Institute of Industrial Science/the University of Tokyo

The Advanced Mobility Research Center (Intelligent Transport Systems Center: ITS Center) took over the spirit of its predecessor, the Collaborative Research Center for Advanced Mobility, which was established in March 2005 and reorganized in April 2009 to become the Advanced Mobility Research Center. This is the first research base in Japan specializing in intelligent transport systems.

The ITS is expected to make significant contributions to solutions in a wide range of areas related to changing demographics, traffic flow, accident prevention, and the environment. These areas represent common issues being addressed by researchers throughout the world, and underscore the need for close international cooperation.

The ITS Center established overseas collaboration bases at the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland (Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne: EPFL) in 2005, and the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), where Professor E. Chung is a full-time member of the faculty, in 2009.

To date, the ITS Center has participated in exchanges, joint research and seminars at 17 universities and organizations both at home and abroad based on memorandums of understanding for research interaction. In October 2007, the ITS Center entered into the agreement with the State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy (ASE), Tsinghua University, China. In July 2008, the ITS Center hosted a symposium at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, with the participation of researchers from throughout the world.

The ITS Center continues promoting agreements with research institutions around the world, expanding its research network, and contributing to the advancement of intelligent transport systems throughout the world.

MoU entry with UC Berkeley (September, 2010)

MoU entry with UC Berkeley (September, 2010)

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Establishment of the Collaborative Research Office at WWF-India: Underwater Technology Research Center's International Activities

Based on the MoU between WWF-India and IIS at the University of Tokyo, Underwater Technology Research Center (UTRC) has been carrying out collaborative research projects for observation and conservation of endangered animal species in India using advanced acoustic and information technologies. One of the leading projects is “INCASTS” (Indo-Nippon Collaboration on Acoustic Surveillance Technology for Susu), a collaborative program with WWF-India and Indian Institute of Technology Delhi for the Ganges River Dolphin's long-term real-time monitoring. This program is targeting 10-14 Ganges river dolphins (locally called “Susu”), which include calves from Karnavas to Narora in Ganges river system. Successful long-term real-time monitoring for 4-6 months in the dry season has been conducted for 3 consecutive seasons since November 2008.

To enhance the on-going project and to develop more advanced projects, collaborative research offices between WWF-India and UTRC have been established at WWF-India's head office at New Delhi and in the fi led office at Narora in February 2009. Based on this, international research activities for observation of freshwater dolphins in Asian waters and other rare animal species such as Gharial (native freshwater crocodile in India) will be promoted in future.

INCASTS project members at WWF-India's field office at Narora (February, 2009)

INCASTS project members at WWF-India's field office at Narora (February, 2009)

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