The University of Oviedo and the University of Agriculture and Technology of Tokyo have reached an agreement to collaborate with each other in terms of research and the exchange of lecturers and teachers within the next few years. The Asturian institution is the first Spanish University to reach an agreement with this Japanese center.

Rector Vicente Gotor and the president of the University of Agriculture and Technology of Tokyo, Tadashi Matsunaga, have signed the agreement in the Historical Building of the University, accompanied by its coordinators, Professors Carlos López Otín and Masaka Inada.

The Rector welcomed the Japanese delegates in his office, where they signed the Book of Honor of the University. Vicente Gotor accentuated the importance of agreements like this one to reinforce the international projection of the Asturian academic institution, and was adamant about the progress that will be made in the fields of teaching and research.

The president of the University of Agriculture and Technology of Tokyo praised the international prestige of the University of Oviedo in areas like science, engineering and the humanities. Matsunaga insisted on the necessity of collaboration between both universities to jointly face the challenges posed by the 21st Century.

Doctor López-Otín was pleased to strengthen ties with an institution like the University of Agriculture and Technology of Tokyo "because Japan is an exemplary country in its investment in science and technology". The Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology stressed that agreements like the one signed today can be the cure for the grim situation that research is currently facing in our country.

In the act were also present Chisato Miyaura, Yasunobu Obara, Yoko Hikida and Takuji Nishiyama, from the University of Tokyo, and, from the University of Oviedo, the delegates were accompanied by Mari Paz Suárez Rendueles, Vice-Rector for Research and Campus of International Excellence; Covadonga Betegón, Vice-Rector for Internationalization and Postgraduate Studies, and Leticia Santos, Director of the Internationalization Office.

When the event had finished, the Japanese delegation had the opportunity to go on a guided tour around the Historical Building of the University, in which they were able to get in touch with some of the traditions of the European university and interact with the platform for the dissemination of cultural heritage GAUDEO.