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Tohoku University Declaration

Through the Special Issue Sessions and the Plenary Meeting of the Sendai Executive Forum on Inter-University Exchange held on August 20 and 21, 2000, we of Tohoku University have learned a great deal and have been greatly inspired. We feel all the more urgently the importance of fulfilling our responsibility as one of the leading universities in Asia, and as a result we have resolved to take the following steps to implement academic and educational exchanges to the fullest extent possible. We plan to implement these points via concrete policies, and we will work with all related parties to bring about their realization.

1. A New Era of Inter-University International Exchange Agreements

Tohoku University at present has concluded exchange agreements with 29 universities and 114 university departments from a total of 31 nations. In light of the fact that relations established by such inter-university agreements form one important basis for ongoing academic and educational exchanges, we will expand our network of agreements, in terms of both participating nations and universities. Tohoku University already enjoys the presence of a large number of outstanding researchers who are internationally active. It is our intention to promote further joint ventures and international collaboration in their research activities through new agreements for academic and educational exchanges at both the university and departmental levels. We thereby expect to establish ongoing and regular international cooperative relationships in both research and education with a wider range of universities from a larger number of nations.

2. Active Participation in International University Consortia

Tohoku University will go beyond the expansion of our inter-university and inter-departmental relations through new exchange agreements; we will also actively pursue the establishment of international consortia of universities. As a representative research university of the Asia-Oceania region, we will explore the possibilities for active participation in University Mobility in Asia and the Pacific (UMAP), and we will also investigate new systems for international exchange, such as the introduction of a University Credit Transfer Scheme (UCTS) between UMAP-member schools, modeled after the European Credit Transfer Scheme (ECTS). We also hope in the future to play a central role in linking student exchange programs in Asia and Oceania with their counterparts in Europe and the Americas.

3. Active Role in Information Technology Network Systems

Tohoku University will actively participate in projects to create systems for international collaboration between universities in research and education using websites, based on both the present state and future potential of information technology (IT). We hope to build a cyberspace university through international networks of universities that in the area of research provide a site for formal publication of papers and for carrying out scholarly discussions, and that in the realm of education is capable of recording, supplying, and reproducing classes on video, as well as a forum for carrying out discussions and distributing tests and reports and even for granting degrees. In order to realize this, we will need to strengthen the already high-level of information technology in use at Tohoku University, as well as pursue a fuller implementation of IT in the realms of software and organizational structure, including long-distance two-way classes conducted via personal computers and adult education courses offered via computer networks. In particular, we will explore long-distance education programs in English on themes such as advanced scientific technology, communications and culture.

4. Expansion and Strengthening of International Cooperation in Research

Every year, Tohoku University sends a large number of researchers for long-term and short-term research missions, both domestic and abroad, just as it hosts a large number of visiting researchers. The number of international collaborative research projects is on the increase, producing more and more concrete results. In order to promote even greater results, we will strive to create systems to support international collaborative research, including our own systems for supporting domestic and foreign research, and also to provide appropriate conditions for hosting outstanding and promising researchers from abroad. We will strive to improve not only the research facilities and the physical plant of the university, but also to provide a research environment that is conducive to intellectual exchanges, including improved salary and compensation, living quarters and health care.

5. Development of International Research Strategies

In order for Tohoku University to attract outstanding researchers from around the world as a center for intellectual excellence, it must in particular maintain a high level of research into problems that confront humanity as a whole. Moreover, the influx of internationally recognized experts will further strengthen the university in those fields. While encouraging further developments in existing basic and applied research, we will in particular designate information technology, bioscience, environmental studies, energy, materials science, medical and social welfare, and production-oriented basic scientific technology as key areas on which Tohoku University will focus. In order to contribute to the stability and prosperity of human society, we will work to utilize effectively the material and human resources of this world-class university and to become an internationally recognized Center of Excellence in these fields.

6. Expansion of Student Exchange and Educational Enrichment

We plan to actively promote study abroad by Tohoku University students through such measures as expanded support for travel expenses and tuition, easing of restrictions for transfer and recognition of credits from universities with which we have exchange agreements, and the establishment of exchange arrangements at the departmental and class level. In order to realize this goal, we will take measures to enhance the ability of our students to learn at their host universities, such as the strengthening of practice-oriented education in English and other foreign languages through the acceptance of credits from externally accredited institutions.
      On the other hand, in hosting students from abroad, we will seek to enhance our systems for educating exchange students, to promote the awarding of degrees, to improve our Japanese language education programs, to expand programs for short-term exchange students, to establish a university system for awarding scholarships, to create residence halls where foreign students can live together with Japanese students, to establish networks with local citizen volunteer groups, and to improve health care services for visiting students. Through such measures, we hope to enable meaningful study and research for students visiting Tohoku University.
      In addition, we will explore policies for fully implementing structures to facilitate exchanges in both directions involving graduate students who are making active contributions in research. In order to expand student exchanges, we will also appeal for increased funding at the national and local government levels for scholarships to fund students both from Japan and abroad, and we will encourage private corporations to establish scholarship funds.

7. Development of Overseas Liaison Offices

At present, Tohoku University has only one overseas branch, located in Novosibirsk. In our long-range planning, we hope to establish further points of contact throughout Asia, including China and Korea, as well as in North America and Europe. In addition to functioning as centers for the domestic and international research activities of Tohoku University faculty, these will function as windows through which foreign researchers and exchange students can contact Tohoku University, thereby supporting visits by foreign researchers and exchange students to our university.
      In particular, as one of our main future tasks, Tohoku University wishes to utilize these windows to assist the development of research and education networks throughout Asia.

August 21, 2000
Tohoku University ISRE-2000 Organizing Committee