The Alliance for Research on North Africa (ARENA) , University of Tsukuba

The Alliance for Research on North Africa (ARENA) was launched in April 2004, as an academic research center with the purpose of promoting comprehensive research concerning the North African Region by way of integration of humanities and sciences. Linking North Africa's unique and various potentials with Japan's advanced science and technology, the ARENA's research focuses on the region of North Africa, from the Mediterranean to the Sahara, including Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania. Since April 1, 2007, the ARENA has been promoted in its organizational position to an inter-department research institute of University of Tsukuba from being under an umbrella of a graduate school.

Being inspired by its institutional promotion，the ARENA intends to further implement unique and useful research activities. Currently，in cooperation with CANMRE (Centre de l’Afrique du Nord et de la Méditerranée pour la Recherche et l’Enseignement) which was established in Tunis April 2006 as the first oversea base of University of Tsukuba，the ARENA endeavors to develop a　new research　and education system by multi-disciplinary approach through the integration of various fields of sciences，aiming at establishing a new academi1c field “North African Studies."

Since its establishment, the ARENA has achieved plenty of valuable activities in the fields of Bioscience, Arid Area Environment Studies, Humanities and Social Sciences, Information Technology and Management. Taking advantage of such fruitful results in each field, the ARENA has significantly contributed to further development and progress of academic activities in the North African countries, through conducting researches on the basis of the specific nature and unique features of the Region, promoting academic exchange, and supporting education and training of young researchers. These achievements could contribute to shifting the pivot of academism from Europe and America to North Africa and Asia, and might lead up to creating a Japan-led new academic area, aiming for co-existence of different civilizations.

As a bridge linking between Japan and the North African Region, the ARENA aims to be a stronghold of the future-oriented, strategic and comprehensive academic research activities and outreaching of them.