A Week Full of Exchange: Shinshu University Visits Dresden

In September 2025, the Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus from the TU Dresden was honoured to welcome Professor Naoki Tanaka from Shinshu University in Matsumoto, Japan. Since 2016, there has been close cooperation between the two universities, which began with the exchange of individual medical students and has since developed into an established annual exchange program. This year, the program also received third-party funding from the DAAD's International Study and Training Partnerships programm. This funding is both a recognition of the cooperation's success to date and an incentive to further expand it in the future.

Prof. Tanaka, from the Department of Global Medical Research Promotion and Director of the International Relations Office at Shinshu University, spent a week in Dresden. During his visit, a meeting with our dean, Professor Esther Troost, was a key item on the agenda. The discussion centred on extending the current cooperation agreement and the strategic development of the partnership. In addition, there was an intensive exchange with scientists from the faculty to identify specific areas of interest for potential joint research projects. The objective for both universities is to strengthen the partnership in the future, extending beyond student exchanges to encompass scientific projects.

© Marc Eisele

A particular highlight of the visit was the exchange program's first alumni event. This event brought together current guest students from Japan, future outgoing students from Dresden, and former participants in the program. Representatives of the International Office, who support the exchange, attended as well. Also present were Professor Henning Morawietz, Head of Vascular Endothelium/Microcirculation, and Sophie Loettel, International Collaborations Advisor, who are instrumental in further developing the exchange program.

In a lively exchange, the students introduced each other to their culture and daily academic life, made new connections, and laid the foundation for a growing alumni network.

With the expansion of this network and the planned intensification of cooperation in the direction of joint research, the partnership with Shinshu University will be even more strongly integrated into the faculty's internationalisation strategy.