UWI and University in Japan to Sign MoU

A delegation from the University of the West Indies (UWI) is to travel to Japan’s Sophia University in November, to sign the final part of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), to facilitate cross-cultural studies between both institutions.

“This MOU focuses on a number of areas, including scientific research in the areas of climate change, marine biology, science and technology as they are applied to industry and innovation,” said UWI Vice Chancellor, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, adding that there will also be a focus on culture and cultural industries.

He was speaking with JIS News after the signing of bilateral agreements between Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller and Japan’s Prime Minister, His Excellency, Mr. Shinzo Abe, at the Office of the Prime Minister, on September 30.

Moments after, the Vice Chancellor inked the first part of the MOU with the 15^th President of Sophia University, Mr. Takashi Hayashita.

Professor Beckles said that Sophia University is a prestigious one based in inner-city Tokyo, Japan. It is also one of the Asian country’s most globalized universities in the world.

He likened Sophia’s globalization to that of the UWI, and emphasized the many benefits of this enriching relationship.

“There are three levels at which we will operate. One is student exchange. We are going to focus primarily on graduate students.  These are students who are doing research for PhDs,” he said.

There will also be an exchange of professors where Caribbean scholars will go to Japan and Japanese scholars will come to the UWI.

A third level will enable Sophia and UWI to form part of a larger network with other universities.