Sir John Beddington meets Norio Nakatsuji, forging ties with iCeMS

February 12, 2009

A delegation from the United Kingdom, led by UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser Sir John Beddington, paid a visit to Kyoto University on February 10 to have a series of meetings. The first one was held with the university's senior executives, including President Hiroshi Matsumoto, and the other with iCeMS Director Norio Nakatsuji in order to learn about the research activities and international relations of the institute -- one of five centers selected for the World Premier International Research Center (WPI) program by Japan's science ministry.

Prof Nakatsuji gave a brief presentation on the institute overview, followed by a wide-ranging, candid discussion. The UK delegates and Prof Nakatsuji exchanged views on possibilities of industrial applications stemmed from basic research, international partnership, industry-academia collaboration, approaches to enable swift decision-making, funding management and strategies, global recruitment, space allocation, the training of junior scientists, and so forth. In particular, a closer liaison with the industry sector was identified as among the priorities by both sides.

The meeting concluded with a mutual agreement to establish ties and seek new opportunities for future collaboration.

 

The UK Delegates:

• Sir John Beddington
  UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser, DIUS
• Dr Darren Hughes
  Private Secretary to Prof Beddington, DIUS
• Ms Jane Peters
  Co-Head, International Science and Innovation Unit, DIUS
• Mr Steve Flynn
  Head of Developed Economies Team, International Science and Innovation Unit, DIUS
• Dr Sophie Laurie
  Research Councils UK Strategy Unit International (representing all Research Councils)
• Mr Tim Willis
  Head of International Relations Unit, BBSRC
• Dr Peter Fletcher
  Head of Education, Outreach and International, STFC
• Dr Julie West
  Principal Scientist, the British Geological Survey
• Mr Robert Morini
  First Secretary, Science & Innovation, British Embassy Tokyo
• Ms Sachiko Yoshida
  Science & Innovation Officer, British Consulate-General Osaka

Prof John Beddington (left)	Mr Tim Willis
Dr Peter Fletcher	From left: Dr Darren Hughes, Dr Sophie Laurie
From left: Mr Steve Flynn, Mr Robert Morini	Prof Norio Nakatsuji