In order to take on a new and important role in advancing academic research and education for marine science and technology, the National University Corporation Hokkaido University (Hokkaido University, President: Keizo Yamaguchi) and the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC, President: Asahiko Taira), signed a cooperation agreement on Tuesday, September 1, 2015.

At this time, when the fields in which we wish to cooperate continue to expand, we have set ourselves the following goals: energizing researches, developing capacity of personnel in the two institutions; promoting specific research areas such as observations of the ocean and the atmosphere, modeling and analysis of the ocean and atmosphere, ocean floor drilling, and the solid earth investigations; further nurturing and exchanging human resources; and playing leading roles in global marine science and technology. For this purpose, we have signed this agreement.

(1) Research cooperation, such as joint research

(a) Promotion of joint research by setting four sub-committees as follows:

・ Observation of the ocean and the atmosphere (arctic region, subarctic zone, area in the vicinity of the Tsugaru Strait, etc.)

・ Modelling and analysis of the ocean and the atmosphere (Earth Simulator, physical model of the ocean and atmosphere, etc.)

・ Ocean floor drilling (deep sea drilling vessel Chikyu, Japan Drilling Earth Science Consortium, etc.)

・ Solid earth (earthquake occurrence zones, earthquake prediction, tsunami prediction, flooding prediction, etc.)

(2) Collaboration at graduate school level

(a) Considering the establishment of joint lectures (including joint laborataory in a graduate school) and extending mutual cooperation

(3) Exchange of research and human resources

(a) Expansion of joint research and establishment of new large-scale projects utilizing Chikyu and other resources

(b) Promoting exchange of graduate school students, and realizing research stays of faculties and researchers

(c) Organizing intensive lectures and seminars

(d) Implementation of outreach activities for high school students

(4) Shared-use of research facilities and equipment

(a) Joint analysis of results of large-scale numerical calculations carried out by JAMSTEC, including those obtained by using the Earth Simulator.

• Promotion of the application of model research by further advancing the arctic research centered at the JAMSTEC’s Institute of Arctic Climate and Environment Research and the Hokkaido University Arctic Research Center (both newly established in 2015), and also the research on the marine environment in the vicinity of the Tsugaru Strait centered at the JAMSTEC’s Mutsu Institute for Oceanography and the Center for Earth Information Science and Technology as well as the Hokkaido University Graduate School of Fisheries Sciences, and contribution to the development of local fisheries.
• Expansion of research cooperation in areas such as further analysis of the results of large-scale numerical calculations obtained by using JAMSTEC’s computing resources, including the Earth Simulator jointly by researchers from JAMSTEC and researchers as well as graduate students from Hokkaido University.
• Expansion of research, involving the deep sea drilling vessel Chikyu, towards realizing new drilling projects under the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) , such as exploration into the eastern offshore of Australia or the Miocene evaporites of the Mediterranean.
• Advancement of research for elucidation of the actual state of earthquake zones as well as prediction of earthquake, tsunami and floods by using data obtained from oceanic observations.

Besides the above-mentioned scientific achievements, we aim at development of human resources for future generations by promoting exchanges of academic/research staff, acceptance of students, providing research supervision as well as nurturing young human resources.

Research Support Office, Creative Research Institution, Hokkaido University

TEL: +81-11-706-9273

E-mail: rso@cris.hokudai.ac.jp

Industry-Academia Collaboration Section, Project Promotion Department, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology

TEL: +81-46-867-9230

E-mail: renkei@jamstec.go.jp