6 Kyushu University projects selected for MIRAI 2.0 joint seed funding

To encourage the further development of existing and new collaborations based on innovative projects and new ideas among MIRAI 2.0 member universities, 20 collaborative projects were selected across the topics of Ageing, AI, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Materials Science, and Sustainability. This year is the second term of the seed funding, and it has been one of the key activities of MIRAI 2.0, a consortium of 20 Swedish and Japanese universities.

Successful applicants will start further collaboration to promote joint research and programs, write co-authored papers, secure external funding, and foster doctoral students and postdocs, depending on the theme and purpose of each project.

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• Projects led by researchers at Kyushu U as main applicants
  *(  ) denotes the Swedish main applicant’s university, and [  ] denotes the MIRAI2.0 research area.

"Comparison of components and determinants of quality of life among older LGBTQ+ people living in Japan and Sweden"
Tsukasa Muraya, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Design (Linnaeus University) [Ageing]

"Towards Swedish-Japanese Collaborations in Applied Artificial Intelligence, Innovation and Entrepreneurship"
Danilo Vasconcellos Vargas, Associate Professor, Faculty of Information Science and Electrical Engineering (Linköping University) [AI]

"Deep learning by the stochastic gradient descent with stabilizer and its application"
Yoshinari Takeishi, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Information Science and Electrical  Engineering (Umeå University) [AI]

"Marketing technology (MARTECH) for customer behavioral transformation to rapidly reduce food loss and waste"
Shunsuke Managi, Distinguished Professor, Faculty of Engineering (Karlstad University)  [Sustainability]

"Contextualizing Scaling Practices"
Nergui Enkhzaya , Research Assistant Professor, Robert T. Huang Entrepreneurship  Center: QREC (Jönköping University) [Innovation and Entrepreneurship]

"SUSHI-FIKA: Sustainable Heating for Industries by Fostering Industrial Knowledge with Academia"
Yuichi Harada, Professor, Global Innovation Center (Uppsala University) [Sustainability]

For further information about MIRAI 2.0: https://www.mirai.nu/

MIRAI 2.0 holds an annual conference called "Research and Innovation Week," where all of the member universities gather to share ideas and give presentations at various levels of expertise. This year’s conference will take place at Umeå University from November 13 to 17, 2023. If there are any Kyushu University members who are interested in this event and consortium, please feel free to let us know.