On October 19, 2024, Vice President KOIKE Kazuhiko (in charge of International Exchange/Japanese Language Education) participated in the 3rd Japan-India Universities   Forum, where top university presidents from Japan and India gathered. The forum, held under the theme of "Promotion of Japan-India brain circulation and utilization of its human resources," aimed to establish a foundation for further promoting research collaboration and personnel exchange between the two countries. The event was organized by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST).

This forum has been held twice before, with President OCHI attending the first forum held in January 2023, and Executive Vice President KANEKO（in charge of Global Initiatives）attending the second forum held in October 2023.

The 3rd forum was held for the first time in New Delhi, India, and was attended by 73 universities, research institutions, and companies from both Japan and India. (From Japan: 28 universities, 1 research institution, 5 related organizations, and 5 companies; from India: 34 universities).

The forum, which was conducted in three sessions, began with the first session, a plenary meeting. After opening remarks by Dr. HASHIMOTO Kazuhito, President of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), and speeches from distinguished guests, including His Excellency Mr. Sibi George, Ambassador of India to Japan, the participants posed for a group photo.

In the second session, representatives from various institutions were divided into three groups to hold roundtable discussions under the common theme of "Promote Japan-India brain circulation and encourage their human resources to play ab active role in the region." In the group in which our university participated, discussions focused on the following topics:

- Career paths for postdoctoral researchers and others in academia  
- Internships and industry-academia collaboration  
- Support from companies and connecting career paths  
- Japan-India joint supervision at Japanese universities

Vice President KOIKE, who participated on behalf of our university, introduced the "Global Human Resource Program" (※), implemented by our Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, as a good practice for building career paths through collaboration among academia, industry, and government.

In the third session, our university held individual meetings with top Indian universities to discuss specific ways to expand future collaboration in education and research.

 (※) Under the "Global Human Resource Program," our university provides Japanese language training and professional education to international students from countries throughout Asia, including India. At the same time, the " Hiroshima Prefecture Council for the Development of Global Human Resources in Manufacturing," which is composed of Hiroshima Prefecture, member companies in Hiroshima Prefecture, and our university, provides scholarships and internship support to help international students secure employment with companies in Hiroshima Prefecture. To date, about 50 students have completed the program and successfully found employment with companies in Hiroshima Prefecture.

At Hiroshima University, through the "International Linkage Degree Program for Developing Innovators Transforming Advanced Technology to Social Goals," which was selected by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's (MEXT) "INTER UNIVERSITY EXCHANGE PROJECT (Type A - India)" in FY 2017, we have been closely collaborating with top universities in India, including conducting overseas internships. Additionally, in FY 2022, Hiroshima　University was selected for the "INTER UNIVERSITY EXCHANGE PROJECT (Support for Creation of Inter-University Exchanges in the Indo-Pacific Region)," and in collaboration with four universities — The University of Sheffield (UK), Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani (India), Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (India), and The University of New South Wales (Australia) — we are conducting a joint initiative to progressively cultivate "Agile Entrepreneurship " (a method of entrepreneurship that allows for an overarching view of issues based on diversity, through a cycle of learning and practice).