We last wrote to you on 16 March 2020, one week before the first lockdown. I’ve been heartened to see the mutual appetite for maintaining our international relationships through online means over the past year. Of course we have also seen leadership change over the period, with Nicola Brewer and Michael Arthur’s departure, as well as significant geopolitical change. I am pleased to report that Michael Spence is supportive of our partnership model and approach to China and Japan. Do read on to see more of our developments and I hope to see many of you at our forthcoming East Asia Regional Network Meeting on 23 April. Katharine Carruthers
Hello from Lizzy Deacon – Senior Partnership Manager (East Asia)
What a year it’s been! I’m missing the view of the blossoms in Gordon Square from GEO’s office, however, we’ve done our best to maintain our key partnerships, in the face of repeated lockdowns and lack of travel over the past year. We have met online with PKU, HKU, and the Chinese Embassy, and launched new joint seed funding schemes with ZJU and SJTU, both of which received an overwhelming response (see details below). The Provost has also spoken at the Global University Presidents’ Forum hosted by ZJU. Our team are now working on how to carry out virtual visits, which may prove to be a boon for our sustainability agenda beyond the end of the pandemic. As always, please do get in touch with any East Asia-related queries and developments.
Hello from Andrew Brown – Senior Partnership Manager (South East Asia, Japan and Australasia)
Like Lizzy, my thoughts lately have been on blossoming trees, particularly the Sakura that were planted in UCL’s Japanese Garden shortly before the first lockdown. Although the planting ceremony was postponed, the trees have flourished; a nice reminder that activity is still taking place on campus, even if most of us are not there to see it.
There are other reasons to be optimistic too. In February, the Japanese Government announced the launch of a £70bn endowment to enhance the quality of its leading universities. Early signs suggest the Government is seeking to collaborate with world-leading universities in the UK to achieve this and GEO will be closely following the fund’s development over the next 12 months. This Spring sees the start of series of events to mark the 90th anniversary of one of UCL’s key partners in Japan, Osaka University. You’ll find details about a Partner Summit below, but there are also plans for a number of interesting anniversary lectures, which we will be promoting through the network mailing list in the coming weeks. If you have any question about this, or UCL’s activity in Japan more broadly, please feel free to contact me directly at andrew.l.brown@ucl.ac.uk
To celebrate its 90th anniversary, Osaka University (OU) is hosting a Partner Summit on 30 April. The Summit will focus on the role of universities in addressing global challenges and include talks from UCL academics and students as well as a pre-recorded message from UCL President & Provost Michael Spence. The Summit will be livestreamed on YouTube.
Following a successful first round in 2019/20, the second annual UCL-Osaka University Strategic Partner Funds has awarded six projects funding in areas including neuroscience and mitigating the impact of COVID-19.
In the third annual joint funding call, UCL and Tohoku University have awarded six projects up to £10,000 each for the development of collaborative research and education initiatives.
The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation recently hosted a virtual launch for a new book, ‘Health in Japan, Social Epidemiology of Japan since the 1964 Tokyo Olympics’, co-edited by Prof Eric Brunner and Dr Noriko Cable from the UCL Institute of Health and Professor Hiroyasu Iso (Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University).
Five projects in the East Asia region have received up to £5,000 from the 2020/21 Global Engagement Funds (GEF). Congratulations to Dr Leah Li, Dr Lucia Patrizio Gunning, Dr Mingxing Hu, Dr Qiuchen Lu and Dr Wentian Lu on your successful applications!
On 24 March 2021, UCL President & Provost Dr Michael Spence joined more than 50 other university leaders from 30 countries and regions at the Role of Universities in the 2030 Agenda, a virtual forum hosted by Zhejiang University (ZJU), China.
The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Institute of Health Equity is organising an international symposium entitled 'Health Equity in Hong Kong & Beyond'. The event will feature a panel of experts including UCL's Prof Sir Michael Marmot, Director of the UCL Institute of Health Equity & Co-Director of the CUHK Institute of Health Equity.
Take advantage of UCL’s Premium Membership of the China Britain Business Council (CBBC). Membership includes priority access to CBBC’s event programme as well as biweekly China policy updates.
We last wrote to you on 16 March 2020, one week before the first lockdown. I’ve been heartened to see the mutual appetite for maintaining our international relationships through online means over the past year. Of course we have also seen leadership change over the period, with Nicola Brewer and Michael Arthur’s departure, as well as significant geopolitical change. I am pleased to report that Michael Spence is supportive of our partnership model and approach to China and Japan. Do read on to see more of our developments and I hope to see many of you at our forthcoming East Asia Regional Network Meeting on 23 April.
Lizzy Deacon – Senior Partnership Manager (East Asia) 
Andrew Brown – Senior Partnership Manager (South East Asia, Japan and Australasia) 
