The Jagiellonian University hosted a visit from Kobe University delegation, the central part of which was the opening of Kobe University Liaison Office in Kraków.
On 22 October 2015 the Jagiellonian University was visited by a delegation from Kobe University, which included its President Prof. Hiroshi Takeda, Vice-presidents Prof. Noriyuki Inoue and Prof. Masato Ogawa, as well as Eri Anno, responsible for international exchange and cooperation.
The official part of the visit began with the opening ceremony of Kobe University Liaison Office in Kraków in the premises of the JU Chair in Comparative Studies of Civilisations at ul. Grodzka 52. In his address, Prof. Hiroshi Takeda said that the office's "location in a cosmopolitan and open minded city," will be of great advantage to Kobe University, which "has been striving to achieve global excellence in education and research", whereas the Head of the Chair in Comparative Studies of Civilisations Prof. Marta Kudelska stressed that the cooperation with the University of Kobe, which has been going on since 1998, has been particularly intense and fruitful. After her short speech, she officially unveiled the plaque of the newly opened office.
Then the delegation went to Collegium Novum building, where it was received by the JU Vice-Rector for Educational Affairs Prof. Andrzej Mania and the JU Vice-Rector for Research and Structural Funds Prof. Stanisław Kistryn. The issues discussed at the meeting included international academic collaboration as well as the Jagiellonian University Synchrotron Radiation Centre "Solaris", which was of special interest to the President of Kobe University, who is a professor of physics.
The Jagiellonian University's cooperation with Kobe University was initiated by the late Prof. Andrzej Flis who was a visiting professor at Kobe University. His lectures focused on modernisation and westernisation of the Far East as well as the comparative analyses of the western and Confucian cultural circles. In 2002 Prof. Kiyomitsu Yui of Kobe university gave a series of lectures on Japanese society to JU students. The JU Faculty of Philosophy and the Kobe University Faculty of Letters have been cooperated pursuant to the agreement signed in 1998 and amended in 2002 and 2012. In October 2013 Prof. Wojciech Nowak, Rector of the Jagiellonian University and Dr Hideki Fukuda, President of Kobe University signed a five-year cooperation agreement between the two higher education institutions, envisaging joint research projects, student and staff exchange as well as the exchange of research results, publications and scientific information.
