On May 12, President Hirofumi Makino paid a courtesy visit to Professor Carl J.J.M.Stolker, Rector Magnificus and Chairman of the Executive Board of Leiden University in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to strengthen the partnership and increase Okayama University’s international competitiveness.

In December 2016, Leiden University’s Faculty of Humanities and Okayama University’s Center for Global Partnerships and Education signed a faculty level international exchange agreement. In April 2018, Okayama University plans to host 20 Leiden University students for three months from the Faculty of Humanities, Department of Japanese Studies.

The Consortium of Six National Universities in Japan (SUN/SixERS), which Okayama University belongs to, views the Netherlands where Dutch Studies originated, as a strategic region. Effective use of the Consortium’s framework makes it possible to cover a wide range of academic disciplines and allows education and research exchange with the world’s top universities as equals.

University personnel besides President Makino participated from other Consortium universities for this trip.