Ties with Japan strengthened by SciLifeLab visit
A SciLifeLab delegation visited Japan in early October, laying the groundwork for closer collaboration with RIKEN, Japan’s largest research organisation.
SciLifeLab Director Jan Ellenberg, Head of Operations Sandra Falck and Project Manager for International Collaborations David Gotthold first joined the STS Forum in Kyoto. The forum gathered about 1500 representatives from funding agencies, universities, research infrastructures and academies.
The delegation then visited the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research (BDR) in Kobe, where they met researchers in the TransitionCode project and the Laboratory for Human Organogenesis. At RIKEN’s headquarters in Wako they met leaders of the RIKEN Center for Brain Science (CBS), RIKEN’s Executive Director of Science, and the TRIP-AGIS programme on AI for science.
Discussions covered shared interests in technology development, advanced imaging, data standards, AI-driven modelling and SciLifeLab’s new flagship program Alpha Cell.
The visit builds on more than a decade of collaboration between SciLifeLab, Karolinska Institutet and RIKEN. A broader collaboration agreement between SciLifeLab and RIKEN is planned to be signed at the RIKEN-KI-SciLifeLab symposium in Stockholm in November.
