Kyushu University hosts RENKEI Live Event to strengthen UK–Japan research collaboration

Held online, the event attracted over 60 participants from member universities across both countries, highlighting strong interest in UK–Japan collaboration and reaffirming RENKEI’s role as a key platform for academic exchange. The event was highly interactive and energetically received, underscoring the momentum of international engagement fostered by the consortium.

The Researcher Spotlight series is a newly launched RENKEI initiative designed to strengthen researcher-to-researcher connections by highlighting individual research activities, career journeys, and collaborative experiences within the RENKEI framework. Kyushu University played a role in advancing this mission by proposing the initiative and hosting the first event that provided opportunities for researchers to engage across disciplinary and national boundaries.

The program opened with a presentation by Dr. Xuesong Wei, a postdoctoral fellow at Kyushu University Platform for Inter/Transdisciplinary Energy Research (Q-PIT). Dr. Wei is the recipient of the Best Poster Award at the RENKEI Climate Change/Energy Workshop 2024 while he was a PhD student at the Graduate School of Engineering in Kyushu University. In his presentation, Dr. Wei introduced innovative approaches to dramatically improving water electrolysis performance, drawing an original analogy with boiling phenomena and opening new possibilities for future energy research. The session continued with perspectives from three other speakers, both in the UK and Japan.

In addition to research presentations, participants received updates on ongoing RENKEI activities and upcoming funding opportunities, further emphasizing the practical value of the consortium in supporting internationally competitive research.

The strong attendance and active engagement throughout the session demonstrated RENKEI's effectiveness as a catalyst for UK–Japan collaboration. Building on the success of this first Researcher Spotlight event, Kyushu University will continue to promote international research exchange through RENKEI, creating new opportunities for collaboration, researcher development, and innovation with UK partner universities.