On November 4, 2025, Professor Damien Fabregue, Vice President (for European and International Relations) of France's INSA Lyon, and Ms. Paulina Berganza Becerra, International Attractiveness Development Manager for the Lyon-Saint-?tienne College of Engineering*, visited Tohoku University and met with EVP (for General Affairs, International Relations, and Academic Resources) Professor Toshiya Ueki and Vice President (for Education Reform and Global Engagement) Masahiro Yamaguchi.

During their meeting, they discussed the 'Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters' (hereinafter referred to as EMJM) program, an international master's program provided by the European Union that offers high-level learning opportunities to students around the world. They also discussed potential Lyon-Saint-?tienne College of Engineering collaborations, led by INSA Lyon and Tohoku University under the EMJM program. Tohoku University's outstanding research capabilities, as well as its long-standing relationship of exchange with INSA Lyon in research and education, led to the idea of Tohoku University becoming a strategic partner in the program. The meeting members proactively discussed how to realize this partnership, such as how to promote student exchange and the ideal program duration.

Visit to ELyTMax.

The same day, the delegation visited ELyTMax and the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering for additional meetings. At the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, they had a lively discussion about potential EMJM collaborations in specific biomedical fields, such as biomaterials and medical imaging. They also discussed challenges to collaboration, such as the number of years required to obtain a master's degree, curriculum design, and methods of student selection.

*The Lyon-Saint-?tienne College of Engineering includes four higher education institutions: ?cole Centrale de Lyon, ENTPE (?cole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'?tat), INSA Lyon, and ?cole des Mines Saint-?tienne.

Visit to the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering.