NTU Reaches Out in 2018 Japan-Taiwan University Presidents’ Forum

NTU Interim President Tei-Wei Kuo (郭大維) led a delegation joined by Vice President for International Affairs Luisa Shu-Ying Chang (張淑英) and Manager for Global Alliances Yu-Ru Yang (楊育儒) to attend the 2018 Japan-Taiwan University Presidents’ Forum in Hiroshima, Japan during June 6-8. Dr. Kuo presented on the current state, implementation, problems, and prospects of dual degree programs between Taiwan and Japan, joining hands with President of Yokohama National University Yuichi Hasebe to introduce recent Taiwan-Japan higher education collaborations. Using NTU as an example, Dr. Kuo encouraged the establishment of inter-faculty connections to build a sustainable model for dual degree programs and further collaborations.

The forum drew presidents and vice presidents from over 100 Taiwanese and Japanese universities, including 35 from Taiwan and 67 from Japan. In addition, 18 of NTU’s partner universities in Japan attended the forum, where Dr. Kuo invited them to visit NTU for its 90th anniversary celebration in November. The delegation’s trip to Japan proved fruitful and promising, as Dr. Kuo discussed potential collaborations with a dozen of Japanese universities, including the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, Tohoku University, University of Tsukuba, Waseda University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Osaka University, Chiba University, Yokohama National University, Niigata University, Hiroshima University, Yamaguchi University, University of the Ryukyus, and Osaka Prefectural University.

This year’s forum was themed “Enhancement of Educational and Research Collaboration Corresponding to the Globalization of Society.” A series of presentations and panels were organized surrounding the two subthemes, “Educational Aspects: Enhancement of International Education and International Student Mobility in Response to the Globalization” and “Research Aspects: Enhancement of International Research Exchange and Industry-University Collaboration for Innovation.”

Having 75 partner universities in Japan, NTU has now cooperated with 7 of them to offer 21 dual degree programs, which since 2006 have benefited 102 NTU students and 27 Japanese students. The seven partner universities are Waseda University, Tohoku University, Kyoto University, University of Tsukuba, Kyushu University, Hokkaido University, and Hitotsubashi University. In the future, NTU will continue sending students to Japan while encouraging Japanese students to study at NTU. Likewise, universities in Japan will seek to improve the flexibility of their educational system as an initiative to promote studying in Taiwan.

The Japan-Taiwan University Presidents’ Forum is jointly organized by the Japan Committee of Universities for International Exchange (JACUIE) and the Foundation for International Cooperation in Higher Education of Taiwan (FICHET). The forum was held for the second time this year after its launch in 2016. Nowadays, universities must enhance international collaboration to meet regional and global challenges that arise with higher education globalization. It is the forum’s mission to offer a platform to continually and effectively facilitate university exchanges and collaborations between Taiwan and Japan.