Uzbekistan to establish joint university with Japan’s University of Tsukuba

The initiative was discussed at a meeting between President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Japan’s Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Yohei Matsumoto, attended by the head of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and senior representatives of leading Japanese universities.

Mirziyoyev highlighted Japan’s global leadership in scientific investment and patent activity, as well as the strengths of its education system, including its emphasis on mathematics and natural sciences, high teaching standards, and a strong culture of discipline and collective responsibility. Japanese degrees, particularly in engineering, robotics, medicine, and pharmaceuticals, were described as highly valued internationally.

According to the president, education and science are viewed in Uzbekistan as the foundation for accelerated modernization, improved competitiveness, and deeper integration into the global intellectual and technological space. Ongoing reforms prioritize the training of a new generation of researchers, the transition to a cluster-based model of scientific organization, and the concentration of resources on key research areas.

The Uzbek side noted that Japanese universities possess advanced research infrastructure and strong academic capacity in priority fields for Uzbekistan, including artificial intelligence and digital technologies, agriculture and water management, green energy and sustainable development, seismology, and smart city solutions. Cooperation in these areas is already under way, with recent negotiations resulting in new agreements on joint projects.

To further institutionalize cooperation, the sides agreed to establish a joint commission on education and science, create an innovation consortium, and launch flagship initiatives, including the integration of artificial intelligence into the learning process and the introduction of specialized engineering training programs.

As part of the visit, the parties signed an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in higher education, a memorandum on establishing the joint university with the University of Tsukuba in Uzbekistan, and several other documents covering scientific collaboration and workforce development. A detailed roadmap will be adopted to ensure the timely and systematic implementation of the agreements reached.