PRIUS: An Educational Framework on PRAGMA Fostering Globally-Leading Researchers in Integrated Sciences

In 2005, Osaka University, in Japan, started an international educational program called, Pacific Rim International University (PRIUS), on top of the Pacific Rim Application and Grid Middleware Assembly (PRAGMA) research framework. The PRIUS framework is based on and similar to that of the PRIME program at the University of California San Diego. Through the PRIUS program, Osaka University has explored a new structure of higher education for graduate students by combining lectures given by PRAGMA researchers and scientists as well as internship abroad opportunities to PRAGMA member institutions and universities. In this paper, we describe the goals and framework of the PRIUS program and discuss issues for the improvement of PRIUS. We also present two examples of interns´ achievements as well as other educational effects brought through collaboration with PRAGMA.