Internationalization Inauguration of the First Liaison Office at Ruhr University Bochum
The University of Tsukuba and Ruhr University Bochum have been closely affiliated for many years. As of now, the Japanese university is represented with its own office on our campus.
“We have a long-standing and close partnership with the University of Tsukuba. By setting up a liaison office as a physical point of contact, our partner and ourselves wish to step up the collaboration between our two universities,” stresses Professor Martin Paul, Rector at Ruhr University Bochum. He launched the liaison office of the University of Tsukuba on the campus of Ruhr University Bochum together with President Professor Kyosuke Nagata on November 23, 2023. “Working hand in hand, we hope to expand our existing cooperation, while also identifying new areas in which we can join forces. We intend to do our utmost to pursue this goal by posting a member of our staff to Ruhr University Bochum in the near future,” Nagata emphasized in his speech.
Long-standing collaboration
Ruhr University Bochum became a member of the international Campus-in-Campus (CiC) network, which is coordinated by the University of Tsukuba in Japan, in 2018. Since then, the two universities have been developing joint study programs and bringing together researchers and start-ups. The Worldfactory at Ruhr University Bochum, for example, maintains an exchange with the “Edge Next” project at the University of Tsukuba, and researchers from Ruhr University Bochum take part in the annual Tsukuba Global Science Week.
Partnerships have been established not just between the universities, but also between the cities. “The cities of Bochum and Tsukuba emulated the collaboration and have been twinned since 2019,” explains Jutta Schmid, Deputy Head of the International Office.
Stepping up the cooperation
By opening the liaison office of the University of Tsukuba at Ruhr University Bochum, the aim is to strengthen cooperation between the two universities. “The similarities between our universities include not only their respective age and architecture, but also their international alignment, their focus on the Sustainable Development Goals and their belief in progress. Both universities wish to accelerate change, for example in the areas of sustainability, internationalization, digitalization and knowledge transfer,” points out Rector Professor Martin Paul.
Following the inauguration of the office, further potential projects in the fields of computer science, electrical engineering, teaching and transfer were discussed with the delegation from the University of Tsukuba. “We talked a lot about online teaching. Now, we need to implement the results, while also expanding our bilateral student exchange,” says Vice Rector for Academic and International Affairs, Professor Kornelia Freitag.
First contact point of its kind
The contact point of the University of Tsukuba on campus is the first and only one of its kind at Ruhr University Bochum. “As a member of the UA Ruhr, Ruhr University Bochum has been represented with three offices abroad. But none of our international partner universities has a permanent base on our campus. The University of Tsukuba is the first,” explains Randolph Galla from the International Office.
The office will be more than just a point of contact for members of Ruhr University Bochum. As a central office, it will be open to anyone throughout Germany looking for an exchange with the University of Tsukuba. The office at Ruhr University Bochum thus replaces the previous liaison office of the University of Tsukuba in Bonn.
