On 20 and 27 June, 2025, the International Education and Student Mobility Division (IESMD), in collaboration with the International Academic Research and Resource Center for Language Education (iARRC) of the Institute for Liberal Arts and Sciences (ILAS), hosted this semester's Kyoteiko Hiroba, or 'Partner Universities Square', in the lobby of the ILAS Bldg.
The Partner Universities Square brings together inbound and outgoing exchange students as well as those considering studying abroad, with a special focus on providing the latter with information about available opportunities.
A total of 160 students attended the June 2025 events, which featured presentations, delivered in either English or Japanese, by exchange students from 12 partner institutions and by participants in the Amgen Scholars Program. The partner universities represented were as follows: Stockholm University; the National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations; Heidelberg University; the University of Hamburg; RWTH Aachen University; the University of California, Santa Cruz; the University of Sydney; the University of Florida; Nanyang Technological University; the National University of Singapore; the University of Indonesia; and Chulalongkorn University. The 20 June program also included a talk by the Graduate School of Engineering’s Associate Professor Jan-Dirk Schmoecker, who discussed student life in Germany.
Each day’s presentations were followed by a networking session, where KyotoU students eagerly gathered around the speakers to ask individual questions. The lively conversations continued well after the event had concluded.
Through these sessions, the events effectively showcased the partner universities while also highlighting the cultural and regional appeal of each location, inspiring many prospective exchange students to pursue their study-abroad goals with renewed motivation.
