International Alliance: Japan

The Université de Lyon has two main partners in Japan: the University of Tokyo and the University of Tohoku. These were the first universities to join the Université de Lyon’s International Alliance project.

Partnerships between the Université de Lyon and its Japanese counterparts focus strongly on research and are based on a history of successful collaborations that goes back several decades.

They are geared towards projects with themes addressing societal issues that are common to both countries, such as energy, urban development, health and data science. The Université de Lyon’s research collaborations with Japan also focus on artificial intelligence.

STARMAJ (Master’s research internship program in Japan): this outgoing mobility assistance program, developed with support from the IDEXLYON, enables Master’s students from the Lyon and Saint-Étienne sites to pursue a research internship in a Japanese university laboratory.

What is unique about this program is that it provides co-supervision (by a French and a Japanese researcher) for internships focused specifically on research. The aim of this program is to strengthen and develop French/Japanese scientific collaborations.

Incoming mobility program for young Japanese researchers: this program has been developed with support from the IDEXLYON. It enables students in their fourth year of a bachelor’s or master’s degree in Japan to carry out a research internship in the Lyon and Saint-Étienne laboratories. This program, which is specific to Japan, is designed to encourage more Japanese students to study overseas.

IARI (International Alliance Research Internship): Launched in 2013, the IARI is a two-way Master’s exchange program for co-supervised research internships for students studying cancer research and biosciences.

The program is open to students from three UDL member institutions (the Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, the ENS de Lyon and the INSA Lyon) and three University of Tokyo research institutes/schools (the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, the Institute of Medical Science and the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences).

The Université de Lyon works closely with its Japanese partners to provide mobility support for co-supervised PhD students to assist them during their mandatory internships in Japan.

For the UdL, this means maintaining the partnerships that have existed with the Alliance’s Japanese universities for many years, in particular its engineering collaborations with the University of Tohoku.

The Université de Lyon regularly publishes calls for projects with a view to further developing French/Japanese scientific collaborations and to encourage UDL scientists to work in Japan.

Thirteen Japanese research assignments were supported in 2019. These included scientific disciplines such as cancer research, engineering, artificial intelligence, veterinary medicine, geography, philosophy, physics and sports medicine.

The ElyT network: The ElyT (Engineering and Science Lyon Tohoku) partnership, established in 1997, is structured around the ElyT maX IRL (International Research Laboratory) and the ElyT Global IRP (International Research Project) set up in collaboration with the University of Tohoku.

This collaboration also resulted in two cooperation tools with high added value that bring the ElyT network to life: the ElyT summer school and the ElyT scientific workshop, which take place every year, alternating between France and Japan.

The Université de Lyon regularly supports this engineering collaboration, which focuses on studying materials in extreme conditions and how these findings can be applied in society. It involves six institutions within the Université de Lyon, including the INSA Lyon and the École Centrale de Lyon.

The IARI network: The IARI network involves three UDL member institutions (the Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, the ENS de Lyon and the INSA Lyon) and three University of Tokyo research institutes/schools (the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, the Institute of Medical Science and the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences).

This collaboration, which was established by a special agreement in 2016, primarily focuses on cancer research and biosciences. It consists of a research internship program and a workshop that is hosted alternately in France and Japan each year.

The Université de Lyon, in collaboration with the Musée des Confluences and the Museum of the University of Tokyo, organized a photography exhibition called “Jadis le Japon, regards figés par l'Occident” (“Japan long ago, captured (in images) by the West”).

To celebrate the exhibition's success, we have published a book retracing its historical narrative from its origins to the various stages of the exhibition, through photographs.

The Université de Lyon supports the following IRPs (International Research Projects) and IRLs (International Research Laboratories):

• The ElyT MaX IRL: Engineering and Science Lyon Tohoku, Laboratory for materials and systems under extreme conditions
• The ElyT Global IRP: Engineering and Science Lyon Tohoku Global
• The SMOLAB IRP: Small Molecule Lab