************************************************
JSPS ALUMNI CLUB DENMARK – NEWSLETTER NO. 2, August 2020*************************************************
HAPPY SUMMER FROM THE NEW CHAIR
Dear JSPS ACD members,
I was elected new chair at the last general assembly, in fact a new board was elected, you
can find all of us at the JSPS ACD home page here https://www.jsps-sto.com/alumni-club3/alumni-club-in-denmark/ - you need to scroll to the bottom of the page to find us.
As well as expressing thanks to the new board members for joining or continuing on theboard, I wish to thank our previous chair for many years, Carl Winslow, as well as theprevious board for all their work over the years.
Almost immediately after formation of the new board, Denmark locked down. I apologize forthe silence but it has been a very strange spring for most of us but we are now getting backin gear. The new board met virtually on 6. July and you can expect to hear a lot more about
us in the future.
I take this opportunity to wish you a good summer wherever and however you are spending
it and look forward to more years of contact with all of you who share with the board a longterm interest in exchanges between Denmark and Japan!
Leila Lo Leggio
THANKS TO JARA 2020 ORGANIZERS
A very successful JARA 2020 (Japan Alumni and Researcher Assembly) was held on 6thMarch 2020 at the University of Copenhagen Southern Campus, just before the danish lockdown. JARA is the major event organised by ACD and is a collaboration between JSPS, thejapanese embassy in Denmark, and Tokai University Alumni association in Denmark. Despite
the world situation, 4 out of 5 of the original speakers (Michio Hayashi, Mette Sandbye,Tania Ørum and Karen Harsbo) were able to be present and gave talks within the theme'Transnational exchange in art and design'. Even not taking circumstances into account, theturnout was excellent. Thanks in particular to the main organizer, Associate Professor
Gunhild Borggreen from the University of Copenhagen, but also all the helpers, speakers andattendance for a successful event.

COVID-19 DELAYS PLANNED ACD ACTIVITIESUnfortunately the spreading of coronavirus and consequent lock down will impact on theACD activities. The BRIDGE fellowship visit planned for October 2020 is now tentatively

postponed to March 2021. Likewise, the planned ACD seminar will not be run in August 2020
and is currently under rescheduling. The board will do everything possible to run JARA 2021
in early 2021, as a live event insofar this will be possible or as a virtual/hybrid event
otherwise. If you have an idea for a virtual seminar - perhaps by a japanese collaborator, orindeed would like to speak yourself about your collaborative work with japaneseresearchers, please contact the board chair (leila@chem.ku.dk). The board is happy topromote suitable virtual events that can keep the networking going.
HELP US TO RECRUIT NEW MEMBERS
JSPS ACD needs new members! We lost at least 10 old members in the GDPR process.
Regular members need to be JSPS alumni, that is received a JSPS grant before. However, andinterest in research/educational collaboration with Japan is enough to be an associate
member and while associate members are not elegible for ACD earmarked grants, they stillare welcome at event and recive information about regular, open JSPS grants. If you havesomeone whom you think could benefit from being a member, please send them a link tothe application page here:
https://www.jsps-sto.com/alumni-club-3/application-for-membership-4/