SAJU 6 is set to foster sustainable research, innovation and impact partnerships from Stellenbosch University in 2024

Universities’ executive leaders, senior and emerging academics and researchers, as well as students interested in global research partnerships will descend on the 6th South Africa-Japan University Forum (SAJU 6) which will be hosted, in-person, at Stellenbosch University from 27 to 29 August 2024.

SAJU 6, a structured framework for collaboration between South African and Japanese universities, enhances the mobility of researchers and students; boosts joint Research & Development collaborations; creates exchange programmes among universities and institutionalises cooperation between universities in both countries.

The SAJU theme for 2024 is Fostering Sustainable Partnerships in Research, Innovation, and Impact. It builds on and continues the agenda from the 2019 theme of The Human Being in the 21st Century in the Context of Global Changes, and the Open Collaboration and Innovation with Trust (2022), respectively.

The opening ceremony on the morning of 27 August will feature addresses by Stellenbosch University’s executive management, representatives of the Japanese Embassy in South Africa and South Africa’s Embassy in Japan, as well as Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Universities South Africa will play a role, as will the Department of Higher Education and Training. Two keynote addresses will also be delivered.

The conference format will combine poster and oral sessions and include panel discussions and individual presentations. The oral sessions will feature South African Student Experiences in Japan while sharing insights into ongoing research in Health and Wellbeing; Social justice and Development – Economy/Management as well as Social Justice – Human Rights. A panel discussion will be held on Closing the Gap between Research and Policymaking, and much more.

The poster session will, in turn, showcase among other sub-themes, ongoing Student/Faculty Exchange Programmes with the University of the Western Cape; research collaboration in the field of mining between scholars from the University of the Free State, two United States-based universities and two Japanese universities; and technical cooperation in earth science and mining between South Africa and Japan since 1991. Delegates will also be given a glimpse into ongoing or completed studies in water conservation; the South African public service and spatial policy reform and township housing transformation in post-apartheid South Africa.

At conferences such as this, the SAJU Forum provides opportunities to Japanese and South African scholars to explore further research collaboration as the two societies strive to address their grand national challenges while helping to shape the development of a global commons of scholarship. In the context of this tradition, a session in the three-day conference will see research institutions of the two countries presenting their perspectives on opportunities for research collaboration. These institutions are the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST); the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS); the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED), speaking alongside the South African Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) and the National Research Foundation (NRF).

Universities’ senior executives will include vice-chancellors and their deputies responsible for research and innovation, and members of USAf’s Research and Innovation Strategy Group.

Participation, in person, is open to all 26 public universities, subject to registration. Plenary sessions will be livestreamed for online attendance.

Other details on the SAJU 6 programme may be viewed via:
https://www0.sun.ac.za/japancentre/2024/07/29/get-ready-for-the-6th-south-africa-japan-university-forum-saju-6-official-programme-release/