The connection between Hokkaido University (HU) and the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) dates back to the time of their respective roots in the 19th century: Sapporo Agricultural College and Massachusetts Agricultural College, whose foundation was cultivated by Dr. William Smith Clark, the third president of Massachusetts Agricultural College and the vice president of Sapporo Agricultural College.
Since 2015, two universities have started promoting their research collaborations and exchange of academics and graduate students in fields of Agriculture, Information and Computer Science, and Polymer Science through the framework of the Global Institution for Collaborative Research and Education (GI-CoRE), HU, the faculty organization directly managed by the University President.
- Visits by Leaderships
- HU’s Presidential Delegation to UMass Amherst in April 2023
- UMass Amherst’s Delegation to HU in May 2023
- UMass Amherst’s Delegation to HU in 2024
- UMass Amherst Provost’s Visit to HU in 2025
- University-wide Conferences
- HU-UMA Joint Research Seed Fund
- Guidelines (English / Japanese)
- Application Form
- Budget Sheet
FY 2026
| # | Selected Research Proposal | HU PI | UMA PI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UMA-HU Joint Workshop on Emerging AI Hardware | Prof. Hiroyuki Akinaga, Faculty of Information Science and Technology | Dev & Linda Gupta Prof. Qiangfei Xia, Ricco College of Engineering |
| 2 | Development of Intelligent Agricultural Robots | A/Prof. Ling Xiao, Faculty of Information Science and Technology | Assist. Prof. Donghyun Kim, Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences |
| 3 | Elucidation of Polyurethane Degradation via High-throughput Experimentation and X-ray Scattering | Assist. Prof. Milena Lama, Faculty of Advanced Life Science | Assist. Prof. Melody Morris, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering |
| 4 | Lignin-Derived Carbon Materials for Sustainable Energy Storage | A/Prof. Takayuki Nonoyama, Faculty of Advanced Life Science | A/Prof. Reika Katsumata, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering |
Jointly-appointed Faculties
| Area | UMass Amherst | HU Counterparts |
|---|---|---|
| Big Data and IoT | Prof. Shlomo Zilberstein, College of Information and Computer Sciences | Faculty of Information Science and Technology – Collaborative Centre for Big Data and IoT |
| Prof. James Allan, College of Information and Computer Sciences | ||
| A/Prof. Amir Houmansadr, College of Information and Computer Sciences | ||
| A/Prof. Subhransu Maji, College of Information and Computer Sciences |
Staff Exchange
| Area | Participants |
|---|---|
| University Libraries | Ms. Maxine Schmidt, Head, Science and Engineering Library, UMass Amherst (2012) |
Ms. Kyoko Jo, Hokkaido University Library (2015) | |
| Academics | Ms. Carol Will, Learning Commons Coordinator/Librarian, UMass Amherst (2018) |
Dr. Tetsuya Aikoh, Assoc. Prof, Research Faculty of Agriculture, HU – Visiting Researcher at UMass Amherst (2002-03) | |
Prof. Geunhwa Jung, Stockbridge School of Agriculture, UMass Amherst – Joint appointment with HU (2018-21) | |
Dr. Amanda Bayer, Extension Assist. Prof, Stockbridge School of Agriculture, UMass Amherst – Joint appointment with HU (2017-20) | |
| Administrative Offices | Long-term Educational Administrators Program (LEAP) Zbudgeted by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology |
| Technical Development Staff | Two-way staff development program at HU funded by the Program for Forming Japan’s Peak Research Universities (J-PEAKS) (2025) Two-way staff development program at UMA funded by J-PEAKS (2026) |