PRESS RELEASE
October 22, 2014
Keio University
EpochEpoch-making agreement for cooperation and collaboration
with international research institutes
nstitutes at Grenoble, France
leading--edge Japan
Japan--France international hub
First step for the formation of a leading
The Faculty of Science and Technology at Keio University (KEIO) has concluded a memorandum of
understanding for international cooperation and collaboration in research with the Alternative
Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (Commissariat à lénergie atomique et aux énergies
alternatives; CEA) at Grenoble and the French international research institute National Centre for
Scientific Research (Centre National de la Recherché Scientifique; CNRS). This agreement covers
the next five years and was concluded on September 22, 2014.
CEA is a core institution in France for research and development in advanced fields. Its Micro and
Nanotechnologies Innovation Campus (MINATEC), located at Grenoble, is a world-leading research
and development hub for micro and nanotechnology. MINATEC and CNRS are core constituents of
the Grenoble Innovation for Advanced New Technologies (GIANT) Innovation Campus, which is a
strategic hub for leading-edge multidisciplinary and comprehensive research and development.
GIANT is the Europe’s largest micro/nanotechnology research center, with 6,000 researchers, 5,000
students, an annual budget of €1.6 billion, 5,000 research papers issued annually, and a cleanroom
area of 10,000 m2. The campus itself is 400 hectares in area, and is the host to many research
institutions in addition to CEA and CNRS. It is, in short, one of the world’s foremost research hubs.
For KEIO and the participating institutions at GIANT, the goal of this agreement is their
contributions to the advancement of science and industry, particularly in the area of
micro/nanotechnology, through mutual cooperation and collaboration in research and development,
human resource development, and industrial advancement.
The agreement provides regular meetings and exchanges of views in accordance with agreed
programs with participating institution research groups, for the advancement of joint research,
technological information exchanges, and the mutual dispatch of researchers and other personnel,
along with research interchange, human resource development, and other forms of cooperation and
collaboration that effectively utilize mutual research resources.
In the cooperation and collaboration configuration, KEIO and GIANT will appoint coordinators
from among their personnel whose duties will range from managing the state of implementation of
joint efforts to explore and identify possibilities for future joint efforts. They will also take part in
selecting major research tasks for mutual engagement, and managing the course of progress in joint
research and development projects.
This is Japan’s first joint agreement for cooperation and collaboration in research with the two
French research institutions participating in GIANT. It sets the stage for continuing expansion of the
initial network to include cooperation and collaboration with other research institutions and
universities participating in GIANT in addition to those of CEA and CNRS with universities in
Japan, as a contribution to the formation of a strategic Japanese-French research hub for
leading-edge international research cooperation and collaboration.
For inquiries regarding this press release:
Keio University Office of Communications and Public Relations（Ms.Kikuchi）
TEL：03-5427-1541 FAX：03-5441-7640 Email：[email protected] http://www.keio.ac.jp