Explore the Agenda for the GFCC Study Trip to Tsukuba
Most innovation ecosystems grow over decades. Tsukuba, now a globally recognized hub for deep tech and R&D, was planned. From February 14 to 18, 2027, the GFCC will take its Study Trip to Japan's national science city as part of its University and Research Leadership Forum (URLF) initiative on Leadership in Place-Making Innovation. The trip is co-hosted with the Tsukuba Global Innovation Promotion Agency (TGI), a GFCC member, in partnership with the University of Tsukuba.
National policy began building Tsukuba in the 1960s, bringing a research-intensive university and national research institutes together in one city. Its next chapter is about what that research base can produce: commercialization, new industries and global partnerships.
The draft agenda opens with a welcome reception on February 14. A full day of Conversation Sessions follows on February 15, then three days of site visits with roundtables in Tsukuba and Tokyo. The program will look at five themes:
how concentrated research becomes industrial innovation
the university as an anchor for regional economic transformation
the microbial bioeconomy
how universities, investors, companies and government come together around a shared direction
the role of talent and place in sustaining an ecosystem over time
The program closes with a question for every participant: what lessons from Tsukuba can work elsewhere, and what depends on conditions unique to Japan?
Tsukuba follows recent GFCC Study Trips to San Diego (2026), Lisbon (2025) and Birmingham (2024).
Study Trips are an exclusive benefit of GFCC membership. Members can register here. Organizations interested in joining the GFCC and taking part can contact Elaine Rodriguez, Director of Operations, at erodriguez@thegfcc.org.
Explore the agenda.
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