December 16, 2015
Four Group of Eight (Go8) Vice Chancellors and Go8 Chief Executive Vicki Thomson will join Prime Minister Turnbull in Japan to boost research ties between Australian and Japanese universities.
“As Australia’s leading research intensive universities which spend some $6billion in research each year, we have welcomed the ability to utilise the benefits of the recent Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement,” said Ms Thomson. “We have been progressing mutually beneficial negotiations with Japan’s top group of research intensive universities.”
Ms Thomson said the Go8 was therefore extremely pleased to have been invited to join the Prime Minister in Japan for a visit which will showcase the Federal Government’s commitment to university research, and its determination to deepen bilateral research linkages, particularly in areas of shared national priority such as energy, health and medical research.
“We can learn much from the Japanese Research Intensive Universities joint engagement with Government – Industry Programs where it is a world leader, while the Japanese Research Intensive Universities can benefit from our researcher to researcher collaboration,” she said. “It is a partnership we are keen to develop and the Prime Minister’s obvious interest provides a welcome acknowledgment of Australia’s commitment.”
The Go8 is committed to developing with Japan’s RU 11 group of universities:
· Research to researcher collaborations providing opportunities for top performing researchers from both
countries to work together on areas of mutual interest and national priority
· Doctoral student exchanges, allowing high performing PhD students from both countries to have an international
experience as part of their studies
· Joint research awards, where students can benefit from the strengths of both the Go8 and Japanese
Research Intensive Universities through receipt of a joint award; and
· Joint professorial appointments, allowing high performing researchers to hold a joint appointment at both a Go8
and Japanese Research Intensive university.
Vice Chancellors Professor Glyn Davis (University of Melbourne) Professor Margaret Gardner (Monash), Professor Peter Hoj (University of Queensland) and Professor Brian Schmidt (incoming VC of ANU) will use the visit to also discuss industry-university collaboration with some of Japan’s top corporations.
Contact: Vicki Thomson, Group of Eight Chief Executive on +61 438 047 155
