On April 9th, a delegation from Sweden (11 people in total), including the Governor of Östergötland County and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Linköping University, visited Sophia University. The purpose of the visit was to exchange views and to take a tour of the campus.

MIRAI (Japan–Sweden International Joint Research Consortium) is a consortium of Japanese and Swedish universities, of which both Linköping University and Sophia University are members. This visit coincided with the arrival in Japan of a delegation co-led by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Linköping University and the Governor of Östergötland County, where the university is located, and they visited Sophia University together with representatives from the Swedish Embassy in Japan.

The event was opened with a welcome address by President Miki Sugimura, followed by an overview of the university provided by Vice President for Academic Research Affairs Masayuki Akahori. He emphasised the university’s global campus environment and its successful track record of international collaboration in education and research. He also touched on the potential for further cooperation with Linköping University.

The visiting delegation also included representatives from the City of Linköping and Linköping Science Park. They explained the nature of the partnership between the university and the local community from a unique perspective, focusing on how the university serves as a hub for revitalising regional industry in Östergötland County.

Next, Masafumi Miyatake, Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology, gave an overview of the Faculty and the Graduate Program. Professor Tomoharu Shibuya of the Department of Information and Communication Sciences in the Faculty of Science and Technology then outlined the background for its establishment, the department’s distinctive features, and the direction of its curriculum.

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Linköping University noted that the establishment of the Department of Digital Green Technology presents new opportunities, given the large number of students interested in science and technology fields who wish to study in Japan. He also expressed a desire to further strengthen cooperation in areas with significant growth potential, such as AI education — a strategic university-wide initiative and a field in which Linköping University excels — in addition to areas in which the two institutions already collaborate. In addition, there were specific proposals regarding personnel exchanges, including the exchange of doctoral students, which would chart a course for future collaboration.

Furthermore, the representative from Linköping Science Park revealed that a substantial number of Japanese companies have established operations in Sweden. They expressed a desire to extend their current inter-university exchanges to include collaboration with local industry.

This visit provided a valuable opportunity to share multifaceted perspectives on research, education and industry collaboration. It was also a meaningful occasion for building cooperative relationships between our university, Linköping University, and its local community.