Since 2016, a partnership, called MIRAI, has been in operation between Swedish and Japanese universities. Next year marks the start of a new period for the MIRAI partnership with more Swedish and Japanese universities involved in research, education and innovation collaboration. Recently, the next step was discussed at a meeting in Stockholm.
”We take a very positive attitude to the opportunities to partake in a continued development of MIRAI as we have good experience of the projects so far,” says Jorge Solis, associate professor of electrical engineering and contact person for MIRAI at Karlstad University. ”Japanese doctoral students have been here and our students have had the chance to go to universities in Japan. The partnership also includes receiving visiting professors.”
Chances for continued development
In November, a concluding seminar for the 2016 MIRAI was arranged in Stockholm, which also led to the start of a new partnership involving more universities and areas. The seminar theme was "Moving together towards a sustainable future" and the aim of continued project is to extend cooperation between Swedish and Japanese universities in education, research and innovation.
” MIRAI fits into our strategy to strengthen internationalisation in teaching and research, and the programme opens important doors to students as well as teaching staff,” says Kjell Magnusson, dean of the Faculty of Health, Science and Technology at Karlstad University.
Many common issues
MIRAI 2016-2019 was funded by STINT, the foundation for internationalisation of higher education and research, on the Swedish side and by JPS, a corresponding organisation on the Japanese side. In 2016–2019, cooperation took place in four areas: elderly care, sustainability, materials science, and innovation. Workshops were arranged in both Sweden and Japan and doctoral courses were offered in both countries.
