Hokkaido University (HU) and the University of Melbourne (UoM) initiated their partnership based on the joint research projects on Zoonosis Control half a century ago, and Nanomaterials decades ago, and then agreed to expand research collaborations as strategic international partners in 2021. In 2024, HU hosted UoM delegations twice; Indigenous leaderships in July and research leaderships in September. As a reciprocal visit to those and the very first courtesy visit to new Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Emma Johnston AO, President Kiyohiro Houkin travelled to Melbourne on 29 and 30 April 2025, accompanied by Professor Tsuyoshi Setoguchi, Executive Vice President for Research and Industry-academia Collaborations; Professor Shinya Tanaka, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine; Associate Professor Yohei Koide from the Research Faculty of Agriculture; and Senior Academic Specialist Taena Uemura from the Office for International Collaborations.

As site visits this time, the delegates were guided to the University’s Dookie Campus which has the vast experimental agricultural farms (2,440 ha) and learnt its management system and research and educational settings. The site provides four different types of soil and facilitates robotic dairy. The campus is now where HU and UoM collaborators tackle with research projects on heat-stress resistance of livestock and crop genetics. The site visit was extended to the Victoria Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC), Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH) and Melbourne Connect, and let delegates see much potential of collaborations using metropolitan research complex and a campus for field-oriented research.

The highlight of the delegation was the Partnership Showcase, where collaborating academics gathered to share their inter-university experiences in recent years. In the opening remarks of the Showcase, President Houkin expressed sincere appreciation towards the rapidly blossoming partnership and collaborators, noting the number of staff exchange increased from approx. 80 people in 2021 to 380 in 2022, 560 in 2023 (and then approx. 800 in 2024), and extended an invitation to the HU’s 150^th anniversary celebration next year. HU Professor Setoguchi talked about the overview of the partnership: university-wide conferences, the Hokkaido-Melbourne Joint Research Workshops Fund, a Joint PhD programme, external fundings, and Hokkaido Summer Institute and Melbourne Global Classroom linkages. UoM’s Professor Cassidy emphasised that the Joint Research Workshops have been a booster to strengthen the partnership since 2022, and it is flourishing among such a wide range of research disciplines including Ukrainian Studies. His colleague Professor Wesley described the importance of this inter-university partnership from the perspectives of geopolitics and research integrity. As a common key field of research, Professor Judd delivered a presentation on collaborations on Indigenous Studies, from communications with Ainu and Australian Aboriginal communities to the upcoming Global Master’s Programme on Indigenous Studies in cooperation with the Centre for Ainu and Indigenous Studies and Global Station for Indigenous and Cultural Diversity, HU. Professor Akihiro Ogawa from the Faculty of Arts and Associate Professor Kwang Cham from the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences (MDHS), UoM introduced their co-taught modules with their HU counterparts, Contemporary Japan and Multidisciplinary team-based care for older adults, and Associate Professor Koide shared ongoing research collaborations in Agriculture.

The research leaderships of the two universities discussed next steps to further promote the partnership including the Program for Forming Japan’s Peak Research Universities (J-PEAKS) which is budgeted by the Japanese Ministry of Education via the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), and closed the agenda with high expectations towards the five jointly-funded Research Workshops this year.

Text and photos provided by the Office for International Collaborations