May 17 and 18, 2010, in Berlin

Organizers: Japanese-German Center Berlin (Japanisch-Deutsches Zentrum Berlin, JDZB), German Rectors’ Conference (Hochschulrektorenkonferenz, HRK), Japan Committee of Universities for International Exchange (JACUIE)

Universities in Japan and Germany have a vital role to play in the process of globalization: higher education and excellence in research are the keys for individuals as well as for the society as a whole to produce a balance between opportunities and risks of the globalization process. At the same time, individual universities as well as the entire higher education sector must deal with the challenges of the globalization process in the field of academic teaching and research.

With Germany’s ‘Excellence Initiative’ and Japan’s (Global) Centers of Excellence, both countries are tackling the challenges of globalization in the academic sector. The event will commence with a focus on the topic of promoting excellence. The second day will deal with issues related to higher education management focusing on the strategic internationalization of universities.

The opening of the conference is planned to coincide with the start of the Science Days located in Berlin’s southwest and is part of the Berlin Year of Sciences. The conference will be conducted in English at the Seminaris Campushotel of the Free University of Berlin. The second conference day will be held at the Japanisch Deutsches Zentrum Berlin (Saargemünder Str. 2, 14195 Berlin) with simultaneous translations into German and Japanese. Please find the conference program attached.

Conference participants will have the opportunity to conduct interviews with high-level representatives from German and Japanese University Presidents. We are expecting more than 80 university representatives from 34 well known universities in Japan, including 14 presidents from the Universities of Tôkyô, Tsukuba und Hiroshima, among others. In total, more than 200 experts from Japan and Germany are expected to participate in the conference.

If you would like to organize an interview, please contact Dr. Wolfgang Brenn from the JDZB (Tel. 030-839 07 154, E-Mail Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist gegen Spam-Bots geschützt, Sie müssen Javascript aktivieren, damit Sie sie sehen können ) or Marijke Wahlers from the HRK (Tel.: 0228-887 128, E-Mail Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist gegen Spam-Bots geschützt, Sie müssen Javascript aktivieren, damit Sie sie sehen können ).

Location
17th May: Seminaris Hotel of the FU Berlin, Takustr. 39, 14195 Berlin-Dahlem
18th May: JDZB, Saargemünder Str. 2, 14195 Berlin-Dahlem

For further information, please see www.jdzb.de or www.hrk.de