International Research Cooperation

　The CIAS mission requires extensive international collaboration. In expanding its efforts, CIAS capitalizes on the international networks of its staff to establish collaborations with research institutions and individual researchers who share CIAS’s interests and objectives.

　Forms of collaboration include joint projects, MOUs, international conferences, and peer-to-peer partnerships. The following is a list of current MOUs with research organizations worldwide:

The Center for International Forestry Research	Republic of Indonesia
Faculty of Agriculture, National University of Laos, Lao P.D.R.	Lao People's Democratic Republic
Faculty of Forestry, National University of Laos, Lao P.D.R.	Lao People's Democratic Republic
Faculty of Social Science, National University of Laos, Lao P.D.R.	Lao People's Democratic Republic
The Center for Asia-Pacific Area Studies,Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences, Academia Sinica	Taiwan
The Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa University	Republic of Indonesia
The Research Center for Nepal and Asian Studies, Tribhuvan University	Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal
Tropenbos International	Kingdom of the Netherlands
The Institute of Peruvian Studies	Republic of Peru
The Royal University of Agriculture	Kingdom of Cambodia
The Royal University of Fine Arts	Kingdom of Cambodia
The Faculty of Nursing, Kohn Kaen University	Kingdom of Thailand
Sherubtse College, Royal University of Bhutan	Kingdom of Bhutan
The Social Research Institute, Chulalongkorn University	Kingdom of Thailand
The Tsunami and Disaster Mitigation Research Center	Republic of Indonesia
The University of Riau	Republic of Indonesia
The IUFRO Special Project on World Forests, Society and Environment	Republic of Finland
The Peruvian Institute of Amazon Research	Republic of Peru
Klasika Media	Malaysia
The Department of Geography, University of Leicester	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Perbadanan Kota Buku	Malaysia
The Graduate School, Silpakorn University	Kingdom of Thailand
School for Oriental and African Studies, London University	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

　CIAS regularly organizes international meetings directly related to its programs to report research outcomes and foster academic debate. Where possible, these symposia are co-organized with national or international partners. The symposia are presented at the Inamori building, where CIAS is located, to make use of the building’s state-of-theart facilities. These events are also frequently hosted by CIAS collaborators.

　Under the Division for Visiting Researchers, CIAS invites researchers from abroad to foster academic exchange and contribute to skills transfer. These visiting researchers are linked to ongoing research collaborations where possible. Visiting researchers have the opportunity to concentrate on their own work for a six-month period during their stay. Where possible, their activities are integrated with CIAS events, such as international symposia.

　In addition to their travel to research sites, CIAS staff are encouraged to visit other area studies research institutions abroad to strengthen collaborative efforts.

【CIAS International Visiting Scholars Program】

　One of the main objectives of CIAS is to foster exchange among scholars. To this end, CIAS has developed two exchange programs. One program invites international scholars from abroad to CIAS, and the other invites scholars from within Japan.

　These two programs provide opportunities for researchers to pursue interests linked to area studies while staying at Kyoto University. The exchanges contribute to the advancement of area studies, and the presence of visiting scholars at CIAS increases awareness of CIAS and Japanese area studies in general in the national and international academic community. Visiting scholars also contribute to area studies research activities at CIAS. Invited candidates are not only scholars from the academe but also those in other positions relevant to area studies, such as NGO/NPO activists, staff of international organizations and funding organizations, and journalists/writers.