Building connections. That’s what a trip to Asia this month for Queen’s Principal Daniel Woolf and Vice-Principal (Research) Steven Liss is all about.

The pair will be in Japan and Singapore, where they will participate in several events aimed at strengthening ties and fostering new collaborations with partner institutions. The trip will also serve to engage Queen’s alumni and connect with Canada’s diplomatic missions in both countries.

“A key objective of Queen’s Strategic Framework and Academic Plan is to provide students with exceptional learning opportunities that will help them prepare for living and working in a global society,” says Principal Woolf. “This trip will broaden the relationships we have with partner universities in Japan and Singapore, and help us create more opportunities for academic and research collaboration.”

In Singapore, Principal Woolf and Vice-Principal Liss will visit the National University, as well as Nanyang Technological University, where Vice-Principal Liss will give a presentation about his research into wastewater treatment processes. In Japan, visits to Waseda University and Keio University in Tokyo are planned, before travelling to Nagoya University for the inauguration ceremony of the Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (ITbM), a research facility where Queen’s Professor Cathleen Crudden (Chemistry) holds an appointment as a research professor.

“Queen’s students and faculty benefit greatly from having research opportunities abroad and in turn, their accomplishments and discoveries stand to benefit the wider world,” says Vice-Principal Liss. “These international alliances are important for Queen’s as it continues to develop its global research prominence.”

While in Tokyo, Principal Woolf and Vice-Principal Liss will attend a presentation by two Queen’s professors, Audrey Kobayashi (Geography) and Jeff Masuda (Kinesiology and Health Studies), at the Japan Studies Association of Canada conference. They will also participate in interviews at the Embassy of Canada for the Prince Takamado Visiting Student Scholarship, and attend alumni receptions in both countries.