HeKKSaGOn German-Japanese University Network Presidents' Conference held at Osaka University, nearly 200 attendees from Germany and Japan

From Thursday, April 12 ~ Friday, April 13, 2018, the HeKKSaGOn German-Japanese University Network Presidents' Conference was held on Osaka University's Suita Campus. Close to 200 individuals were in attendance from Germany and Japan, including presidents, vice presidents, researchers, and students from each university.

On the first day of the conference, following greetings from guests at the conference, an introduction to projects to promote exchange between Germany and Japan, keynote speeches, activity reports from research working groups, and presentations by the presidents of each of the 6 universities were held.

On the morning of the second day, presidential meetings, research workshops, and student workshops were held simultaneously, while overview reports for each meeting/workshops were given in the afternoon. In addition, the "Statement and future perspective" for HeKKSaGOn's second round was made , followed by a signing ceremony.

In addition, a special "Symbolic Object" was prepared by Osaka University for the conference, with the presidents and vice presidents providing the finishing touches.

*What is HeKKSaGOn?

HeKKSaGOn, a Japan-Germany university consortium, was established with the goal of contributing to human and social welfare and prosperity by strengthening continuous academic cooperation between the two countries. HeKKSaGOn is an acronym coined from the letters that make up the names of member universities: Heidelberg University, Kyoto University, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Tohoku University [in Sendai], The University of Göttingen, and Osaka University. This 6th conference, the last general meeting of the first round, was a significant milestone to sum up the consortium's activities in the past years and discuss their long-term strategies for the second round.