Professor Peter Norreys helped to mark 30 years since the opening of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) London office by delivering the keynote speech at a celebratory event. Some 100 invited attendees came to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford on 4 September 2024 for the event that also marked 20 years of the JSPS Alumni Association.
Professor Norreys’ speech was entitled ‘The UK-Japan collaboration for new frontier in plasma physics’; he went on to participate in a panel discussion considering ‘the importance of Japan-UK academic cooperation and future directions’.
JSPS works to foster young researchers, promote international scientific cooperation, award Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research, support scientific cooperation between the academic community and industry, and collect and distribute information on scientific research activities.
The event was well received and Director of JSPS London Naoto Kobayashi confirmed that he is keen to ‘further strengthen the activities of JSPS London.’
Professor Norreys commented: ‘I was delighted to see so many alumni and dignitaries in the audience in the Ashmolean Museum, which is testimony to the enduring ties between our two nations, ones that have been greatly facilitated by the JSPS over the past 30 years. We are exploring a possible academic exchange programme in fusion energy research as a fruitful outcome of this 30th anniversary meeting.’