AEARU-Tokyo Tech Webinar on Collaboration in a Post-COVID-19 World
On November 27, as part of activities under The Association of East Asian Research Universities (AEARU), Tokyo Tech hosted a webinar on “Cooperation and Collaboration among Research Universities in Asia in a Post-COVID-19 World.” AEARU, which aims to promote student activities and research collaboration between member universities, was established in 1996 and is a consortium of 19 leading research-oriented universities in East Asia. More than 60 students, faculty and staff members of AEARU member universities attended the webinar.
To highlight the range of experiences of AEARU member universities, the webinar began with presentations by the following invited speakers from AEARU member universities:
- Professor King L. Chow, Acting Dean of Students, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
- Professor Kun Qu, Director, Office of International Cooperation, University of Science and Technology of China
- Professor Dongyoung Noh, Vice President for Research Affairs, Seoul National University
- Professor Jun-ichi Imura, Vice President for Teaching and Learning, Tokyo Tech
After describing their respective university’s approaches to online student activities and international research collaborations in a “new normal,” the speakers participated in a panel discussion moderated by Tokyo Tech’s Professor Jun-ichi Takada. Panelists addressed questions from the audience, who inquired on ways to manage time differences in conducting online student activities, quality assurance of online contents, and student evaluations.
Participants in the panel discussion
On the morning of the same day, Tokyo Tech hosted the AEARU 47th Board of Directors Meeting and 26th Annual General Meeting. Giving welcome remarks at the Annual General Meeting, President Kazuya Masu declared, “The global spread of COVID-19 has posed unprecedented challenges to all universities that value international cooperation and collaboration. However, we regard this situation as an opportunity to reaffirm the value of collaboration through AEARU.”