The Centre quarterly newsletter, March 2026 issue, is now available.
In this issue:
Main event…
A unique opportunity for EU companies to host Japanese S&T university students as interns for R&D
Vulcanus in Europe 2026 - 2027:
Deadline: 20 September (new companies) - 30 September (former host companies)
Internship: 14 SEPTEMBER 2026 - 12 MARCH 2027 (6 months)
IN A NUTSHELL
The 'Vulcanus in Europe' programme offers EU companies an opportunity to host Japanese S&T university students as interns in R&D for a 6-month period.
'Vulcanus in Europe' takes place in Japan and Europe and is divided into two main parts:
BENEFITS FOR THE HOST COMPANY
By taking part in the Vulcanus in Europe programme, the host company will have a valuable addition to its R&D team who can bring in a Japanese perspective and make contribution to the company's R&D projects and needs. Vulcanus interns could also assist the company in the development of its business and contact with Japan.
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Read here more testimonials from previous Vulcanus in Europe cohorts
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TESTIMONIALS - HOST COMPANIES
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Mr Hannes Voraberger, AT&S, Austria - https://ats.net/ |
For many years, AT&S has had the pleasure of hosting multiple generations of Vulcanus in Europe students, and we have been consistently impressed by the quality, professionalism and curiosity they bring to our R&D team. This cooperation has been exceptionally rewarding for us. The combination of industrial practice with the academic spirit of research and education has always been a core value of AT&S, and the Vulcanus programme embodies this connection in an outstanding way. We are proud of the successful project outcomes that have emerged from this partnership and of the students who have contributed real value to our innovation efforts. As Vulcanus in Europe approaches its 30th anniversary, we are delighted to reaffirm our strong support for this programme. It has enriched our organisation both technologically and culturally, and we look forward to continuing this collaboration for many years to come. |
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Mr Florian Peters, Path Medical, Germany https://www.pathme.de/ |
For PATH MEDICAL, Vulcanus 2025 marked our first experience with the program. While we were initially unsure how the selection process would work, the Vulcanus team did an excellent job preselecting highly suitable candidates. Choosing Koichi Motohashi was therefore very easy – his qualifications and overall impression stood out immediately.
For PATH MEDICAL, the Vulcanus program was a complete success, and we would gladly participate again. We wish Koichi every success in his future studies and career. |
| TESTIMONIALS - ALUMNI | |
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Kenta Shimizu, Business Development, Loccioni Vulcanus in Europe participant (April 2015 - March 2016) - Host country: Italy - Host company: Loccioni |
Vulcanus in Europe was an extremely valuable and meaningful experience for me. Not only because of the long-term internship, but also because of the opportunity to live abroad for an extended period, interact with different cultures, and learn a new language. Through these experiences, I was able to gain many new perspectives and, above all, grow significantly both personally and professionally. During my internship, I became interested in working at Loccioni. Before joining the programme, I was not familiar with the company, but once I arrived, I quickly realized how innovative and interesting it was. I also noticed that many visitors from Japanese companies came to Loccioni during the programme. This gave me the opportunity to take part in activities that connected Japan and Italy, and I was also involved in several business development activities related to Japan. Through this experience, I got a strong desire to support Japanese companies interested in adopting technologies made by the company and to act as a bridge between the two regions. For this reason, I decided to continue my career at Loccioni after completing the programme. After the programme, we worked together to establish the company’s presence in Japan and started our activities from there. It was certainly a challenging step, but it has also been extremely rewarding. By creating a base in Japan, we have been able to increase our contact points and opportunities with customers. In my current role, which focuses mainly on business development and sales, I have the opportunity to interact with a wide range of customers across Japan and have communications with our team in Italy. |
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Shohei Kajiwara, PhD at Sophia University, Graduate School of Science and Technology (Physics Division) Vulcanus in Europe participant (April 2025 - March 2026) - Host country: Germany - Host company: Fibrecoat
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Keita Toyama, Hyogo University, Information Security Science Course, Data and Computational Science, Graduate School of Information Science. Vulcanus in Europe participant (April 2025 - March 2026) - Host country: Germany - Host company: Airbus Space and Defence
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BACKGROUND OF THE PROGRAMME
'Vulcanus in Europe' programme was launched in 1996 on the initiative of the European Commission and the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) with the purpose of contributing to the improvement and stimulation of industrial cooperation and of improving mutual understanding between Japan and the European Union. The EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation is responsible for the actual organisation of the programme.
The EU-Japan Centre currently produces 5 newsletters :
Joint venture established in 1987 by the European Commission (DG GROW) and the Japanese Government (METI) for promoting all forms of industrial, trade and investment cooperation between the EU and Japan.
