Sixteen receive grants to strengthen academic ties between Iceland and Japan

Twelve scholars and students at the University of Iceland are going to Japan to conduct research and study, and four Japanese students are coming to study at the University of Iceland thanks to the Watanabe Trust Fund. The grants were allocated from the fund on 16 May at the University of Iceland in the presence of Toshizo Watanbe, the founder of the fund. Watanabe's decision to contribute a supplementary contribution of two million dollars, or over 200 million Ikr, to the fund was announced at the allocation ceremony. This makes the fund's capital five million dollars in total.  

This was the eighth time scholarships are offered from the Watanabe Trust Fund; established in 2008 with a contribution of three million dollars from Toshizo Watanbe. The aim of the fund is to strengthen academic ties between Iceland and Japan and has in recent years given Icelandic students at the University of Iceland the opportunity to study at a Japanese university and Japanese students the chance to study in Iceland. The Fund has also supported Icelandic scholars during their research stays in Japan as well as their Japanese colleagues during their stay here in Iceland; thus encouraging even further scientific collaboration between Iceland and Japan in diverse fields of study. 
Watanabe's contribution to the University of Iceland is one of the largest donations an individual has given the university, and with the two million dollars supplementary contribution Watanabe hopes to be able to support even more Icelandic and Japanese students and scholars in their collaboration. By doing this he wishes to emphasize the importance of connections between different cultures, especially in the fields of science and education.

Sixteen applicants received grants from the Watanabe Trust Fund this year amounting in total to eleven million IKr. The grantees are:

Nino Hosobuchi – Student business administration and sociology at the International Christian University, who receives a grant for exchange studies at the University of Iceland. 

Bára Binghua Shen Jóhannesdóttir,  BA student in Japanese language and culture at the University of Iceland, who receives a grant for exchange studies at Kansai Gaidai University.

Hulda Rún Finnbogadóttir, BA student in Japanese language and culture at the University of Iceland, who receives a grant to study at the Shimane University.

Gylfi Þ. Gunnlaugsson, BS student in mathematics and philosophy at the University of Iceland, who receives a grant to study at Kyoto University in Japan.

Tsunoda Akane, BA in English and communication, has received a grant to study for an MA at the University of Iceland in the field of literature, culture and media.  

Moe Watanabe, MS student at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, receives a grant to study Icelandic language and culture at the University of Iceland.      

Catherine Rachel Gallagher, a doctoral student in geology at the University of Iceland and Durham University receives a grant to conduct research connected to her thesis at Okayama University.    

Ingibjörg Lilja Ómarsdóttir, a doctoral student in environmental and natural resources science receives a grant to conduct research on natural disaster management at DPRI Kyoto University.      

Megumi Nishida, a doctoral student of educational sciences at the University of Iceland has received a grant to work on research on connected with her thesis at Hokkaido University.  Her research focus is on inclusive education.     

Robert Alexander Askew, a doctoral student of earth sciences at the University of Iceland receives a grant for a research stay at Okayama University where he will work on research in geochemistry.     

Valgerður Tinna Gunnarsdóttir, a doctoral student of Cultural Studies, receives a grant to study Japanese aesthetics, including a stay at the Shibaura Institute of Technology.      

Séverine Biard, Post-Doc in mathematics at the University of Iceland receives a grant to visit Shizuoka University to further develop her cooperation with Masanori Adachi, who is a professor there.     

Uta Reichardt, who recently finished a doctorate in Environment and natural resource science from the University of Iceland receives a grant for a research stay at Kyoto University to study graphic presentations of warnings to travellers.      

Guðrún Valdimarsdóttir, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Iceland receives a grant to visit Fumiko Itoh, Professor at the Tokyo University of Pharmacy, to acquaint herself with certain methods in the field of stem cell research. 

Kristín Ingvarsdóttir, PhD from Hitotsubashi University and sessional teacher at the Faculty of Languages and Cultures at the University of Iceland receives a grant for a month's stay at Waseda University to study communication between Iceland and Japan through the ages. 

Pétur Henry Petersen, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Iceland receives a grant for a research stay at Kyushu University where he will also work on establishing contacts with Japanese scientists in the field of neuroscience.