Student Travel Support to Japan: 2009 IEEE Int Conf Robotics and Automation and Lab Visits

Northwestern University, Evanston IL

Investigators

Abstract

This project is partially funding up to 30 US graduate students to attend the 2009 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Kobe, Japan, in May 2009. It is also supporting student visits to laboratories in Japan before and after the conference. The purpose of this project is to increase exposure of US graduate students in robotics to research and researchers in Japan; to help establish meaningful relationships between US students and their counterparts in Japan; and to encourage future collaborations by planting the seeds of international collaboration early in these students' careers. In this sense, the goals of this project have much in common with the NSF East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes (EAPSI). Indeed, one outcome of this project is expected to be increased interest in the EAPSI and postdoctoral fellowship opportunities in Japan. Other outcomes will be measured by student trip reports and surveys. This project is also producing a database of US robotics labs willing to host future visitors from Japan as part of reciprocal programs.