Our Mission

The Research & Development Manager at Office of Research Management is responsible for creating grant proposals, surveys, and data collection as part of the University’s practical strategies to support research activities.

The Research & Development Manager also takes initiatives to support Kobe University researchers with the aim of enhancing internationalization in research aspects.

Initiatives for Internationalization

Support for the University’s Initiatives

In order to promote and strengthen the internationalization of research activities, the following support and services are provided by the University Research Administrators.

● Establish /Accelerate international joint research projects

Matching researchers with international partners and providing support to establish and accelerate international joint research projects institutionally organized beyond individual researchers.

Case Examples

<International collaboration with advanced smart cities in Europe>

-Generate projects to be matched for joint research calls between Europe and Japan

-Establish networks with governments and other universities for the purpose of international joint research

-Generate international industry-academia-government collaborations with private sectors connected to smart city research

<International collaboration with advanced smart cities in Europe>

-Develop Kobe University Model of international industry-academia-government collaboration’ through Kobe University’s collaborative activities with/in European cities (including Barcelona) and Kobe city itself.

● Support for international research funding scheme applications

Kobe University researchers are provided with support services to help them apply for European research and educational funding schemes, including HORIZON 2020. For more details, please refer to the ‘Support for European Funding Scheme applications’ (Kobe University staff only) page at Institute for Promoting International Partnerships.

● Promote international exchange
For the purpose of promoting international exchange, URA has several initiatives to increase the number of international collaborative articles, international joint research and the ratio of international faculty members.
For 3 years from 2013, Kobe University was involved in the Japan-EU Partnership in Innovation, Science and Technology (JEUPISTE); a BILAT project (a coordination project for the enhancement and development of S&T Partnerships) to promote HORIZON 2020 within Japan. Drawing on its experiences as the only Japanese university involved in the project, Kobe University continues to increase its presence in Europe through the Kobe University European Centre (KUBEC).

Case Examples

<Planning workshops at KUBEC in cooperation with the International department>

-Finding organizers for the KUBEC workshops

▶Kobe University Brussles Euroepan Centre (KUBEC)

<Grant scheme developed for the international exchange of joint research>

This grant scheme began in 2015. For details, please refer tothe Kobe University’s Grants and Programs for internationalization’ (Kobe University staff only)

<Developing institutional frameworks to increase the number of international collaborative articles>

< Grant Application Support in English>

Support scheme

English ‘KAKENHI’ Guideline (for Beginners) (PDF)

● Cultivating internationalized faculty members

Providing support to improve the quality of articles and press releases in English.

Case Examples

<Support program for writing articles in English (not implemented this year)>

-The program began in 2015. For details, please refer to ‘the Kobe University’s Grants and Programs for internationalization’ (Kobe University staff only).

-Seminars for writing articles in English.

● International press releases

Support for initiatives to distribute Kobe University’s research highlights.

Case Examples

<Support for international press releases>

-Distributing information regarding the outcomes of policies in the Communications Division and International Affairs Planning Division.

The evaluation index of the Program for Promoting the Enhancement of Research Universities

The Q value and the distribution of international collaborative articles provide an evaluation index for the ‘Program for Promoting the Enhancement of Research Universities’ granted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan. The Q value is the ratio of articles which received the top 10 percent citations in certain areas all over the world.

To gain citations, it is essential to submit a large number of articles in English to renowned journals and have them accepted. To make this possible, it is crucial to increase the number of joint research projects with foreign institutions and to boost researcher exchange, including PhD students.

The University Research Administrators aim to strengthen relationships with partners in Europe and North America through cooperation between divisions relating to industry, academia, intellectual property, and international relations.