Osaka University and Shimadzu Corporation sign Comprehensive Collaboration Agreement

On March 20, 2023, Osaka University and Shimadzu Corporation signed a comprehensive collaboration agreement to promote their mutual cooperation in R&D and human resource development in order to contribute to society by improving science and technology and developing human resources through industry-university co-creation.

Under this agreement, based on the university’s concept of “Industry on Campus,” Osaka University and Shimadzu will further promote research activity and cultivation of highly skilled talent through industry-university co-creation.

At a joint press conference for this agreement held at the newly renovated Osaka University Nakanoshima Center on Friday, April 21, 2023, Osaka University President NISHIO Shojiro and Shimadzu President YAMAMOTO Yasunori spoke about their joint endeavor to allow PhD candidates to pursue a doctorate in a financially secure environment through industry-university co-creation.

President Nishio expressed his strong expectations for this endeavor, saying, “In this fast-changing era of the centenarian, our efforts will surely pioneer the creation of an environment to develop individuals who can anticipate the changing times, envision how the future should be, and lead social transformation via industry-university cooperation.”

Background to this agreement

Nearly 20 years have passed since Osaka University established the system of “Industry on Campus,” a first for Japanese universities. In this system, corporate researchers are always on duty at Joint Research Chairs and Research Alliance Laboratories established on campus. The university has promoted its special curriculum of “Internship on Campus” as a new human resource development model under this system.

OU and Shimadzu have promoted utilization and sophistication of research outcomes at the Osaka University Shimadzu Omnics Innovation Research Laboratories since their establishment as Research Alliance Laboratories in 2019.

In April 2021, the university and Shimadzu launched the REACH Laboratory Project, which allows employees from Shimadzu enrolled in the doctoral program at OU’s Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences to perform research at the REACH Laboratory, a hub for reskilling and recurrent education established in the Osaka University Shimadzu Omnics Innovation Research Laboratories.

New approach to cultivation of highly skilled talent

Under this agreement, OU and Shimadzu will further promote research activity via industry-university co-creation at the Research Alliance Laboratories, and furthermore, develop the current REACH Laboratory Project into the REACH Project.

The REACH Project will allow students who earned a master’s degree at OU and enter Shimadzu to pursue a PhD at OU immediately after completing their master’s degree and engage in joint research in doctoral programs.

This project gives outstanding students a boost in advancing to a doctoral program by allowing them to pursue a PhD at OU while receiving financial support from Shimadzu, which will pay salaries, employee benefits, and tuition fees for them, so that they can engage in research in a financially secure environment.

This will not only increase the number of students advancing to doctoral programs at OU, but will also bring about desirable effects to Shimadzu, such as securing outstanding human resources and accelerating social application of their research results.

Moving forward, Osaka University and Shimadzu will further extend the range of their joint research beyond science and engineering to humanities and social sciences, which should contribute to the well-being of human beings and, eventually, to transdisciplinary fields.

• Industry on Campus: This collaborative activity between OU and businesses invites research organizations of businesses to OU through the systems of Joint Research Chairs and Research Alliance Laboratories to share the results of their research with society.
• Internship on Campus: OU students can experience internship schemes at the Joint Research Chairs and Research Alliance Laboratories.
• REACH: Recurrent & Re-skilling Academia and Industry Collaboration for Higher Education