The University of Tsukuba Research Administration/Management Office held the "UT-RUB Researchers Matching Kickoff Meeting–Religious Studies/Closed Carbon Cycle Economy" online on December 8, 2021. This online meeting aimed to connect researchers from the University of Tsukuba and the Center for Religious Studies and Research Department Closed Carbon Cycle Economy (CCCE) of Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) in Germany. The meeting was organized in cooperation with Mr. Randolph Galla, advisor of the RUB International Office. The University of Tsukuba URAs and RUB researchers/science managers related to the two disciplines of "Religious Studies" and "CCCE" participated in this event.

After the self-introduction of the 10 participants, they divided into the "Religious Studies" and "CCCE" rooms, and facilitated by URA Chen and URA Kato respectively, the URAs and science managers from both universities introduced their relevant departments/researchers and exchanged opinions on the possibility of research collaboration. 

In the "Religious Studies" room, URA Saito first introduced the Degree Programs in Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Tsukuba, especially its subprograms in Philosophy, and History and Anthropology. She also introduced potential collaborators. Next, Dr. Tim Karis from RUB gave a talk on the Center for Religious Studies, where he belongs as a managing director and its externally-funded research projects such as BuddhaRoad and DiGA (Digitization of Gandharan Artefacts).
     
In the "CCCE" room, Professor Roland Span first introduced the nine interdisciplinary research departments at RUB, especially the Research Department of CCCE and the ERA-ACT project ELEGANCY which has just been completed. He also recommended that the University of Tsukuba participate in the International Conference for Applied Energy (ICAE), hosted by RUB in August 2022, where researchers in science and social sciences will gather. Next, URA Kuriyama introduced the outline of the Faculty of Business Sciences of the University of Tsukuba. He also gave an example of Prof. Tatsumoto’s global ecosystem research for industrial IoT ongoing at the University and showed the possibility to apply this research to the CCCE research field.
     
In both rooms, there was an exchange of opinions about potential researchers for joint research based on the presentations of both universities. At the end of the meeting, all the participants regathered in the main room and confirmed the outcome and the future action plan for researcher matching.
     
The University of Tsukuba Research Administration/Management Office will hold the same kickoff meeting for "Neuroscience" on December 21, 2021. We will continue to support both universities in searching for potential collaboration.

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