Platforms for Alumni

There were 68 participants at the embassy event, 25 UNIGE alumni and 33 UZH alumni and friends. 27 of them are of Japanese origin. "We had a lot more people here than we expected", UZH Prof. Christian Schwarzenegger commented. "It was also an interesting cultural mix."  

The chapters aim at offering a platform for Alumni to regularly meet, exchange information, host visitors from Switzerland and promote the excellence of their university abroad. So far a total of 63 UNIGE alumni and 109 UZH alumni and friends living in Japan have been identified.  

"Alumni UNIGE Japon" is in the making and still looking for "leaders" to help and build up the community. "It was amazing to see how many people have been studying in Geneva", Christophe Savioz, President of OMEGA, commented. "I’m so happy to see so many Swiss friends in Japan", said Prof. Shin Hae Bong, UNIGE Alumna at the Aoyama Gakuin University. "Please stay together and strengthen the Swiss-Japanese ties in Japan."  

Access Point to Japan

"UZH Alumni and Friends Japan" will serve as an access point in Japan to former UZH students, professors and researchers. "It will send its members information on new developments at the University, for example, about the research focus on Asia and Europe", UZH Professor Schwarzenegger explained. The new group would also help the younger generations of students and researches to contact experienced alumni and to get in touch with Japanese Universities.  

The group will be co-chaired by Rahel Kaegi Romero (Communications Manager at DKSH), Hiroko Sato (Professor at the National Institute of Informatics, Tokyo), Frank Staubli (Head of Asia Business at Genedata) and Yuta Daigi (Master Student Doshisha University Kyoto). "I met a lot of people I haven’t met in years and didn’t even know they where in Japan", Romero summarized her experience.

Two largest Universities

Swiss Ambassador to Japan, Urs Bucher, personally introduced the two universities. "The University of Geneva, founded in 1559, is a leader in scientific research, in particular in the fields of molecular biology, astrophysics, social sciences and economics", Bucher said. More than one-third of its students would come from abroad, attracted by the university's location in the heart of a city which is home to many international organizations.  

The University of Zurich was founded in 1833 and is Switzerland’s largest university. Two thousand lecturers in 140 special institutes provide the broadest range of subjects and courses available from any Swiss seat of higher education. "Its international reputation is based on groundbreaking research, particularly in molecular biology, brain research and anthropology, and on the work of the University Hospital", Bucher commented.  

He also pointed out the fact that the two universities are the only Swiss institutions that offer comprehensive programs on the study of the Japanese language, culture and society. "Furthermore, both universities already maintain various academic relations with esteemed Japanese partner universities", the ambassador explained.

Supported by the Embassy

The founding of the new alumni chapters event is supported by the Science & Technology Office Tokyo of the embassy. “It is our mandate to promote Swiss higher education in Japan", described the head of Science & Technology Office Tokyo, Felix Moesner, his role. "Reaching out globally to Alumni and Friends is becoming more and more essential for universities in order to win ‘Ambassadors’ and set new anchors for their networks."

Japanese and Swiss universities are amongst the most highly ranked research and educational institutions in the non-Anglosaxon world. Due to the international nature of the student bodies and faculties at Swiss universities, their alumni networks also extend to most major countries. Previous successful Japan chapters were established by ETH Zurich, EPFL, the University of St. Gallen and the University of Lausanne.    

Pictures and Contact: Samuel Krebs, Science &Technology Office Tokyo, samuel.krebs (at) int.uzh.ch