New materials and biotechnologies, architecture, design, redesign and urban development: these are the issues on which the partnership between the Polytechnic of Turin and the Kyoto Institute of Technology – KIT (Kyoto, Japan) will focus on, thanks to a memorandum of understanding that has been signed today in Turin by the Dean Marco Gilli and the President of the MIT Masao Furuyama.

As a consequence, Turin and Kyoto will be closer, thanks to the exchange of students of the five-year degree courses and of the doctorate, and also thanks to joint training initiatives such as the summer schools dedicated to very topical issues. The students will also have the chance to do an apprenticeship in the two Countries.

From a research point of view, the agreement offers the joint participation to public announcements and the implementation of joint border projects related to the issues that are at the basis of the agreement. In addition, the partnership includes the creation of a Joint Research and Training Centre, that will become a real platform where research, training and technology transfer will meet, with two headquarters: one in Kyoto and the other in the Polytechnic.

The five-year agreement also includes the sharing of the results obtained from research thanks to seminars, meetings and workshops, in order to offer socio-economic benefits both in Italy and in Japan.

Laura Montanaro (Department of Applied Sciences and Technology), the responsible for the initiative for the Polytechnic, says that: “This agreement offers very interesting partnership perspectives with Japan thanks to one of its illustrious technical universities. The sectors that have been identified for joint activities own important complementarities between the two Institutions and are highly qualifying, both as regards research perspectives and teaching factors. The interest of the Kyoto Institute of Technology in collaborating with us on these issues confirms that these are worldwide acknowledged areas of excellence of our University, and I want to thank Professor Giuseppe Pezzotti, the Vice-Regent of the KIT, for creating this opportunity that will bring our two universities closer”.

Also the Vice-Regent of the Kyoto Institute of Technology Giuseppe Pezzotti confirms his interest in the partnership, in fact he says that: “For the Kyoto Institute of Technology, the creation of a partnership project with such a long experience University like the Polytechnic of Turin is a reason of prestige and it represents the strong desire of internationalisation of Japanese Universities towards European Universities”.