JST President Nakamura attended the Global Research Council (GRC) African Summit, held from November 23 to 25 in Stellenbosch, South Africa. The Summit was jointly hosted by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF) and National Council on Research, Science and Technology of Namibia (NCRST) for the purpose of promoting scientific cooperation between Japan and African countries, thereby serving to the 4th GRC Annual Meeting to be held in May 2015 in Tokyo.
Representatives of funding organizations and research institutions from 20 African countries, Japan, Germany, the US and Canada took part in the meeting. The plenary session stated two themes of “The Future of Science Granting Councils in Africa” and “International Collaboration between Developed and Developing Countries” and Dr. Nakamura made an introductory presentation on JST’s activities such as SATREPS and e-ASIA JRP. At the subsequent academic symposium, some Japanese researchers engaged in the SATREPS were invited as speakers in the parallel session of “Infectious diseases” and “Food & Agriculture”, and took part in a lively discussion with African researchers. The GRC African regional meeting was also held in the meeting to discuss the two themes for the coming GRC Annual Meeting; “Research Funding for Scientific Breakthrough” and “Building Research and Education Capacity”. Dr. Nakamura also participated in the regional meeting and shared views and experiences with African representatives.
JST will make a positive contribution to STI cooperation with Africa as well as the GRC activities.
JST, an integrated organization of science and technology in Japan, establishes an infrastructure for the entire process from the creation of knowledge to the return to the society. For more information, visit http://www.jst.go.jp/EN/