Apr 10 2025

President USHIKI Tatsuo visited partner institutions of Niigata University (NU) in France and Spain.

In France, President USHIKI Tatsuo, together with faculty members from Niigata University’s Sakeology Center, visited the University of Bordeaux. Since the conclusion, in 2019, of an inter-university exchange agreement between NU and the University of Bordeaux, and an inter-departmental exchange agreement between the Sakeology Center and the Institute of Vine & Wine Science (Institut des Sciences de la Vigne et du Vin, “ISVV”) of the French university, NU has been actively conducting joint research and student exchange with the University of Bordeaux.

After visiting ISVV, which has a close cooperative relationship with the Sakeology Center, the delegation met with Prof. Dean Lewis, President of the University of Bordeaux to seek cooperation in the Program for Forming Japan's Peak Research Universities (J-PEAKS), for which, in January this year, NU was chosen by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). We look forward to further strengthening our ties with the University of Bordeaux.

In Spain, President USHIKI visited the Institute of Agrobiotechnology (Instituto de Agrobiotecnología, “IdAB”) and the Public University of Navarre (Universidad Pública de Navarra, “UPNA”).

IdAB, which was created as a joint research institute shared between UPNA and the Spanish National Research Council (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, “CSIC”) and is now jointly owned by CSIC and the Government of Navarra, has conducted numerous joint research projects on plant health with our Faculty of Agriculture. President USHIKI met with Dr. Alejandro Toledo-Arana, director of IdAB, and collaborative researchers working closely with NU, and toured the experimental facilities.

At UPNA, with which NU signed an inter-university agreement in 2017, he met with Prof. Jorge Elso Torralba, Vice-rector of Internationalization and Cooperation and other faculty members. He introduced the “Digital Gastronomy Project in “Niigata-2km” Area through industry-academia-government co-creation” which was carried out in collaboration with the City of Niigata and chosen by Cabinet Office, Government of Japan, to seek a possible future collaboration between the two universities because the Basque Country, where UPNA is located, is known as a successful example of regional branding through its rich food culture and shares some common perspectives with the project.

Moving forward, we will continue to strengthen our partnerships with overseas universities in order to return results of our education and research to the local community.

President USHIKI Tatsuo（center left）with the President Dean Lewis (center right) at University of Bordeaux

 

??? President USHIKI explaining about “Rikka no Mori”, the sake that NU graduate students worked on sake brewing

 

Prof. Jorge Elso Torralba (left), President USHIKI (center), Prof. Maria Jesus Campion Arrastia (right) at UPNA

President USHIKI on a tour of the research facilities guided by Dr. Edurne Baroja, Vice-director of IdAB

Contact

Niigata University International Office