With the announcement of UFIC's latest initiative: the development of Comprehensive Strategic International Partnerships, and with a long history of collaboration, Japan was a natural choice for our university’s first visit.

In April of 2024, the University of Florida International Center sent a delegation of UF leaders, faculty and staff to Japan, which included Provost J. Scott Angle, Dean Marta L. Wayne, Toshi Nishida (College of Engineering), Ravi Srivanasan (College of Design, Construction and Planning), Jeremiah Blanchard (College of Engineering), Gloria Kim (College of Engineering), Michael Kung and Sara Williams (UFIC), David Reed (Associate Provost) 
Nicole Stedman (Associate Provost/Dean of Graduate School) and Megan Forbes (ELI).

The goals of the trip were to strengthen existing partnership in Japan, explore potential strategic partners, and increase the global visibility of the University of Florida. The theme of the trip was AI and Smart cities.

Partner Institutions Visited 
* Osaka Electro-Communication University 
* Osaka University 
* Kyoto University 
* Shiga University 
* Fujisawa Smart City Town 
* US Embassy 
* University of Tokyo Research Center for Advanced Science & Technology (RCAST) 
* University of Tokyo Graduate School of Information Science & Technology (IST)

Visit here to know more about this international collaboration trip.