Today I witnessed the signing of an historic Memorandum on Cooperation in Education between Australia and Japan. The Memorandum was signed by Ms Yuko Obuchi, Japanese Vice Minister for Education and Australian Ambassador to Japan, Mr Murray McLean OAM.
I also took the opportunity on my visit to Japan to present eight high achieving scholars and professionals from Japan with prestigious Endeavour Awards.
The Endeavour Programme is part of the Australian Government's Australian Scholarships initiative worth AUD$1.4 billion. The Endeavour Programme aims to strengthen education linkages between Australia and the Asia-Pacific region by supporting high achieving students and professionals in their fields of study and research.
The memorandum and scholarships will give a meaningful boost to a very successful and productive education relationship.
Both countries are strengthening their education systems to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. The exchange of information and scholars will help to realise that ambition.
The Award winners are:
Endeavour Postgraduate Award (3 year PhD) Mr Jun Kimura will undertake PhD studies at Flinders University in South Australia in the area of maritime archaeology. His PhD research interest is to analyse early East Asian maritime activity based on archaeological evidence, including the hull structures of shipwrecks and their cargos.
Endeavour Asia Award (1 year of postgraduate research)
Ms Sanae Yamanaka will undertake research towards her PhD at Osaka University at the University of Melbourne's Faculty of Education. Ms Yamanaka's research will explore the experiences of non-English speaking children and their parents in early childhood education settings in Australia.
Mr Takemasa Ando will undertake studies towards a PhD at the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies at the Australian National University. Mr Ando will analyse 20th century social movements and their impact on Japanese modernisation.
Mr Takuya Iwamura will undertake studies towards a PhD at the School of Integrative Biology at the University of Queensland where he plans to undertake research in conservation planning.
Endeavour Research Fellowship (Up to 6 months postdoctoral research) Dr Yuki Sugiyama will undertake research on eye lens development at the University of Sydney. Dr Sugiyama has a research career in molecular cell biology at Yokohama City University and is a travelling research fellow at the University of Durham, UK.
Endeavour Executive Award (Professional Development) Dr Yosuke Seki is currently undertaking clinical training in the field of surgical treatment of morbid obesity (bariatric surgery) at the Flinders Medical Centre, Flinders University.
Ms Natsuko Kambayashi will undertake research into the marketing and risk management strategies of higher educational institutions at the Australian National University and the University of Canberra.
Endeavour Vocational and Technical Education Award Ms Tamie Honda will undertake a two-year Diploma of Remedial Massage at TAFE New South Wales.