Activities and events in 2007
UK Seminar: Hydrogen and Sustainable Energy
23-24 April 2007This two-day seminar was co-ordinated by the universities of Oxford and Hiroshima through FCO Global Opportunities Fund support as the first of a series of UK-Japan meetings centred on sustainable energy. Around 70-80 attended the seminar, including academics, a few government officials and company representatives. The seminar provided a good forum for scientific exchange and broader discussion on the future prospects of a hydrogen economy. Click here for a report of the seminar.
UK-Japan Seminar: Aerospace Conference 2007 ‘Space Technology’
31 May 2007The seminar showcased UK’s strengths in space technology to Japan’s space technology field, including satellite navigation and communications, earth observation and imaging, software, and space science, as well as present UK’s new Space Strategy. The seminar also celebrated the 50th Anniversary of Space Exploration with Japan and provided an opportunity for exchange among more than 70 academics, industry and government representatives. Speakers included chief executive officers and research directors from 10 UK companies and research organisations led by the British National Space Centre (BNSC) and 4 key Japanese organisations involved in space science and technology, including MEXT, JAXA, Mitsubishi Electric and the National Institute of Communications Technology. All speakers welcomed opportunities for future collaboration either between the UK and Japan or Europe and Japan.
UK-Japan Workshops: Plant Genomics
4-8 June 2007 (UK) 14-18 Jan 2008 (Japan)Japan and the UK both have strong research efforts in plant genomics. In Japan, a great deal of work has been done on the rice genome, whereas the UK’s focus has been more on Arabidopsis as a model system. The results coming out have strong relevance to the abilities of plants to cope with harsh conditions (intense heat and sunlight, being watered with salt water). Two workshops were held, one in the UK and one in Japan, to bring the leading academics together to discuss the relevance of plant genomics to key issues including climate change and sustainable agriculture in Africa.
UK-Japan Summer School on Climate Modelling
10-21 September 2007The UK-Japan collaboration on Climate Change Modelling (UJCC) has marked its third successful year by an international summer school at Cambridge University, partly funded by FCO Global Opportunities Fund. The school targeted students in natural sciences who have an interest in becoming experts in climate modelling and disseminated the latest results and techniques developed from the UJCC project. Leading experts in Climate Change science from many countries led the sessions. The press release is available here.
UK-Japan Workshop: High Energy Density Science
18-19 September 2007In co-operation with the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), the workshop will be held for UK and Japanese experts to discuss the new scientific field of high energy density states, which can be achieved with laser technologies. The researchers exchanged views and ideas on networking and collaboration in this field not only between UK and Japan but also between different areas of science. Presentation files are available here.
UK Seminar: BioJapan 2007 ‘Bioprocessing’
19 September 2007There is a great deal of interest from the healthcare industry in the development and application of biological medicines. The UK has strength in both the early stage R&D and in the scale-up of production, and bioprocessing capacity is a key part of the UK's forward looking plan for bioscience entitled "Bioscience 2015." The Embassy organised a seminar at BioJapan 2007- Japan's key biopartnering event- where the UK's strengths were showcased to an industrial audience.
UK Seminar: Marine Bioresources
30 Jan 2008UK mission on marine bioresouces came to Japan from 28 January to 1 February to review and make links with Japanese research organisations and companies which are using innovative research on marine organisms to identify those products and processes having the potential for commercial exploitation. There was a seminar by the mission members to introduce UK's research activities on this area on 30 January 2008. Presentation files are available here.
UK-Japan Seminar: Sharing Best Practice in Technology Transfer and Academia-Industry Collaboration
February 2008The UK and Japan are world-renowned for the quality of their scientific research, technological innovation and business R&D environment. This seminar was designed to showcase policies and best practice for promoting technology transfer and university-business cooperation in both countries. Ten experts from the UK with highly successful experience of commercialising research and working with industry were invited to speak at the seminar, which saw the participation of representatives from Japanese government, academia and business. Key questions for discussion were around intellectual property rights, role of government in supporting science-led innovation, human resources and funding for collaboration between science and industry.
UK seminar: 'Science Excellence in the UK: Opportunities for Business R&D Collaboration'
20 Feb 2008The UK has an outstanding record of scientific achievement, a world-class science base with an open system of innovation and a business R&D environment which is among the best in the world. Featuring experts from a range of research backgrounds and with successful experience of working with industry, this seminar was aimed at Japanese companies based in the Kansai region to highlight opportunities for R&D collaboration and investment with some of the major universities and research organisations in the UK. The seminar took place as a satellite activity to the Technology Transfer seminar.
UK Fuel Cells Seminar 2008
26 February 2008This seminar was the second one to introduce the latest information of UK fuel cells research and development to Japanese stakeholders. UK experts from large and small companies and universities outlined a wide range of fuel cells development from fuel cells systems to elemental technologies. Presentation files are avilable here.
UK-Japan Seminar: 'Sharing Best Practices in Technology Transfer'
18-20 Feb 2008The UK and Japanese governments have in recent years introduced a wide range of innovation policy measures aimed at developing a knowledge-based economy by strengthening university-industry collaborations and improving the ability of business to exploit the scientific outputs of universities and public research organisation. This seminar is designed to showcase UK and Japanese policies and practices in technology transfer and the commercialisation of scientific research. Around 10 speakers from the UK will be invited to attend the seminar, which will see the participation of representatives from government, academia and business. Key questions for discussion will be around intellectual property rights, as well as the role of government in promoting technology transfer and supporting innovation.
UK Nobel Prize Winner Lecture Series: Professor Sir Paul Nurse, President, Rockfeller University "Great Ideas of Biology"
27 Feb 2008One or more "star" academics will showcase the innovation of the UK science base. The VIPs will hold open seminars in Tokyo and elsewhere in Japan to promote a positive image of the UK to the general public and specialists. These events will also attract a great deal of press interest. The first lecture was by Sir Paul Nurse (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 2001) which was held at the British Ambassador's residence in Tokyo. Future lecturers in the series will include Sir Anthony Leggett (Nobel Prize in Physics, 2003), Sir Harry Kroto (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1996), and Sir Tim Hunt (Nobel Prize in Medicine, 2001) which will be held at the Keio University (Co-sponsor).
UK-Japan Seminar: Biophotonics
3-7 Mar 2008A delegation of 7 photonics experts from the UK, led by the Photonics Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN), will be visiting Japan. At this seminar, the delegation will introduce UK's latest technological and business trend, research funding allocation by the government, academia-industry collaboration, and management issues related to commercialisation. Inviting key Japanese decision-makers from industry, government and academia, the seminar aims to establish new business contacts and discuss potential collaboration areas between the UK and Japan.
