The Association of Institutions of Higher Education of the Russian Federation and Japan is an organization comprised of Russian and Japanese universities who aim to promote inter-university exchanges and increase the number of participants of student exchanges.
When the Association was founded, 21 universities from each side, Russia and Japan (42 in total), were involved. By September 2021, the number had risen to 30 universities from Japan and 33 universities from Russia (63 in total).
In May 2018, the first general assembly meeting of the Association was held in Sapporo, Japan, and in September 2019, the second general assembly meeting was held in Moscow, Russia. The third general assembly meeting was held online on September 16, 2021, hosted by Niigata University (Japan.)
The future meetings are planned to be held once every year and a half to two years with the location alternating between Japan and Russia. The fourth meeting will be held in Moscow, Russia in 2023.
Hisory of the Association
From 2009 presidents of Japanese and Russian universities held meetings aiming to promote inter-university exchanges. These meetings led to a statement in October 2016 expressing agreement to cooperate for establishing the Association of Institutions of Higher Education of the Russian Federation and Japan. Following this, in December 2016, in conjunction with the Japan-Russia Summit Meeting, a Memorandum of Understanding on the Establishment of the Association was signed, on the basis of which the Association was eventually founded.