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The Tohoku University - Université de Lorraine Joint Conference 2021 took place online on March 4.

This was the second such conference after Université de Lorraine had held the first joint workshop back in September 2019.

A partnership meeting, open only to executives and invited speakers, marked the first part of the conference. Here, presentations from both universities focused on the theme "Promoting Universities Internationalization in Light of the COVID-19 Pandemic." The presentations stirred a lively exchange of opinions on matters such as supporting student and research exchange.

For the second part of the conference, a further fifty researchers and graduate students from both universities joined for a progress report on the Matching Funds Projects. Set up in September 2019 to encourage collaborative research, the Matching Funds Project has funded numerous projects since 2020.

Tohoku University President Hideo Ohno and Université de Lorraine President Pierre Mutzenhardt delivered opening remarks along with Counsellor Didier Marty-Dessus of the French Embassy in Japan. Following this, representatives from three joint research projects gave an update on the current progress of their research and what the future entails for their projects.

Representatives also spoke about the difficulties brought about by the restrictions in international travel as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite these challenges, however, they noted they are adapting to the situation and staying connected via the internet.