The third Excellence Seminar of the Swedish Academic Collaboration is now over, held in Shanghai this time. The previous two took place in Korea and Singapore, and more seminars are scheduled for spring 2016 in Brazil and Indonesia. Six Swedish universities are collaborating on these seminars in order to achieve greater visibility and impact than any one of us could accomplish individually. This project, which is supported by STINT, will naturally be evaluated after the fact. However, impressions so far seem favourable just from speaking with our own attending researchers. Themes this time around: Ageing society, Material science, Sustainable development, University management and Education.
We also found the time for a joint alumni event with Lund University in Shanghai, which was greatly appreciated, and drew many visitors from far away.
Now, we and our partners are considering the possibility of arranging something coordinated and more long-term in Japan. As any regular reader of this blog knows, Anders Malmberg took part in a Swedish delegation to Japan earlier this autumn and we in turn have received several large Japanese delegations in the last few years. IVA will embark on a RTM (Royal Technology Mission) to Japan this spring, which I and Professor Maria Strömme will participate in. I am pleased that we are collaborating more with other Swedish universities on the global stage.