RUB rector Martin Paul accompanied Hendrik Wüst for a week and took the opportunity to visit three Japanese partner universities of the Ruhr University.

Prime minister Wüst wanted to specifically visit Japan to explore joint research projects in the field of renewable energies/hydrogen and had therefore approached Thomas Happe as a long-standing expert in the field. Happe, who is also project leader in the Cluster of Excellence RESOLV, then traveled to Osaka for two weeks with part of his team - on the one hand to prepare for the visit, and on the other hand to exchange ideas intensively with the fellow Japanese researchers.