News

Toru Kumagai’s reports on R&D trends in Germany

No more disinterest in Industry 4.0 – Covid-19 pandemic Accelerates Digitalization of German Industry

July 09, 2021 [by Toru Kumagai] The results of a survey published on April 7, 2021 by the German Association for Information Technology (Bitkom) have attracted a great deal of attention in European academic and business circles. This is because the results of the survey clearly showed that the Covid-19 pandemic, which has been ravaging the world since the spring of 2020, has accelerated the digitization of German industry.

Toru Kumagai’s report on R&D trends in Germany

BioNTech Demonstrates German Capacity for Innovation to the World with Development of COVID-19 Vaccine

July 01, 2021 [by Toru Kumagai] BioNTech is an example of one of Germany’s most successful start-up companies, with a record that will go down in history. The company was the first in the world to receive approval for its COVID-19 vaccine, and it is saving millions of lives. BioNTech is a shining example of what in German is known as a Mittelstand, or a medium-sized enterprise. It illustrates how long years of medical research at a university can come to fruition in a venture start-up that will produces a product of vital importance for humanity.

Call for participants

Entrepreneurship Explorer Ruhr

Deadline: 2021/08/01 – The Entrepreneurship Explorer Ruhr 2021 offers international and entrepreneurial-minded early career researchers in cyber security the possibility to implement their innovative business ideas and explore the regional start-up ecosystem of one of the most active start-up communities in cyber security.

Call: BMBF / JST

Funding call for green hydrogen research cooperation between Germany and Japan

Deadline: 2021/09/10: BMBF and JST funding will be provided for cooperation between German and Japanese partners from science and industry (2+2) in international collaborative research projects in accordance with Module C of the announcement of regulations for funding international projects on the topic of green hydrogen (for further information, see link below).

Overview: German Embassy Tokyo

Quantum Technology – Research in Japan

The German Embassy Tokyo has compiled information on quantum technology research in Japan. The overview summarizes the current situation as follows:

Connecting East and West – A Short Interview with …

Sasaki Tetsuya and Michael Hechtel

Our series “Connecting East and West – A Short Interview with …“ presents people involved in German-Japanese research collaborations – and their insights on how and where to cooperate successfully! This week we welcome Sasaki Tetsuya, Senior Director of the Saitama City Foundation for Business Creation (SFBC), and Michael Hechtel, Research Assistant at the Institute for Factory Automation and Production Systems at the University of Erlangen-Nuernberg.

Report: Virtual Symposium

Coping with the Crisis – The Psychosocial Impact of the Pandemic

The Corona crisis has affected societies in Japan and Germany in many ways. In addition to the health consequences, the pandemic also brings with it significant social and psychological effects such as unemployment and growing poverty, depression, loneliness, and conflicts in the home environment.