UTokyo–Cambridge Voices -Dialogue Series-｜ UTokyo-Cambridge Voices is a series of two-way dialogues between researchers of UTokyo and Cambridge on a specific aspect of their discipline

Messages from the Representatives
February 2021

Professor David Cardwell

Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Strategy and Planning
University of Cambridge

I have been involved with collaborations with the University of Tokyo since 2013, originally via the Deans’ Forum, which was a forum for deans of engineering where the University of Tokyo was instrumental in bringing together the heads of leading engineering departments around the world to great effect.

University of Cambridge and the University of Tokyo realize we have much in common; we have clear and common motivation, and we work well together. It is pretty clear that the world is changing in so many ways and so rapidly. Amid global challenges such as COVID-19 and climate change, it is more important than ever that leading universities work closely together to address common themes and common challenges.

This is a very valued and increasingly successful collaboration that I think will go from strength to strength. From science and engineering to arts, humanities and social sciences, collaboration opportunities are being considered, explored and developed between the two universities, and I look forward to a continued successful collaboration to the mutual benefit of both institutions as we move forward.

Professor Mamoru Mitsuishi

Executive Vice President
The University of Tokyo

While the relationship between our two universities has a long history, over the past decade it has truly began to flourish. A Memorandum of Understanding between the University of Cambridge and the University of Tokyo was signed in 2014, signaling the deepening relationship between our two universities at that time. Our mutual goal since then has been to promote and further academic links between the universities, and these have continued to flourish. Joint workshops and symposia have been ongoing since 2015, resulting in the expansion and enhancement of networks among researchers and students. The momentum has led to diverse and interdisciplinary exchanges involving a variety of areas including Engineering, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Humanities and Sociology, Industrial Sciences, Public policy, and others. In 2015, we signed the Strategic Partnership, cementing our ties across national, disciplinary and organisational boundaries.

Together we aim to find and solve interdisciplinary research problems of the time and increase high-quality education opportunities. Topics of our most recent Joint Symposia are ‘Sustainability and Innovation for Society’ and ‘Education in the time of Novel Coronavirus.’ We look forward to collaborating in the coming years, and to the contributions to academia and to society that this collaboration can contribute.