Wed, Apr 24, 2024 page3

• Universities ink MOU to boost links to Japan

  INDUSTRY RELATIONS: The education ministry is to provide NT$50 million annually to facilitate faculty and student interactions, and dual-degree programs

  • By Liu Tzu-hsuan / Staff reporter
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  Taiwanese universities on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to promote cooperation with Japanese universities in Okinawa Prefecture and Kyushu with a subsidy provided by the Ministry of Education, the ministry said yesterday.

  The University Academic Alliance in Taiwan, comprising 12 universities, signed the MOU with the Kyushu-Okinawa Open University comprising 11 Japanese universities, the ministry said in a news release.

  National Taiwan University president Chen Wen-chang (陳文章) and Kyushu University president Tatsuro Ishibashi on behalf of the groups, signed the MOU, with representatives from the 23 universities involved as well as Deputy Minister of Education Liu Mon-chi (劉孟奇) and Fukuoka Mayor Soichiro Takashima witnessing, it said.

  

  National Sun Yat-sen University president Cheng Ying-yao, right, and a representative from Case Western Reserve University hold copies of a memorandum of understanding at a ceremony in Cleveland, Ohio, in an undated photograph.

  Photo courtesy of National Sun Yat-sen University via CNA

  Fukuoka, which is in Kyushu, would support and promote cooperation between the universities and industry, Takashima said.

  Taiwan and Japan have been working closely on higher education and the cooperation deepened after the Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing joint venture between Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and its Japanese partners was established, Liu said.

  To support the initiatives outlined in the MOU, the ministry is to provide NT$50 million (US$1.53 million) annually from this year to 2028 for exchanges, including faculty and student interactions, dual-degree programs, cooperative research, corporate internships, international industry-university cooperation and Mandarin-language education, he said.

  At a forum after the ceremony, the two university groups introduced the characteristics of their institutions and the efforts they have made to cultivate talent, the ministry said.

  The Taiwanese alliance has signed similar MOUs with four other groups abroad, the University of Illinois System, the Texas A&M University System, the University of Texas System and a group of 14 Czech universities, it said.

  In other developments, National Sun Yat-sen University (NSYSU) president Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) signed MOUs with four US universities on cooperation in chemistry, polymers, materials, engineering and finance, NSYSU said yesterday.

  During a visit to the US with faculty and staff members, Cheng signed agreements with Case Western Reserve University, the University of Akron, Rutgers University and Baruch College to bolster international connections and cultivate more international talent, it said.

  NSYSU has a dual degree program that allows its undergraduate students to study for three years at NSYSU followed by two years at a US university, after which they would be able to obtain a bachelor’s degree from NSYSU and a master’s degree from the US university, it said.

  The new MOUs provide students with more opportunities to study at prestigious US universities, which is an outcome of NSYSU’s efforts to promote international cooperation, it said.

  Creating an internationalized environment for students has always been the goal of NSYSU, Cheng said, adding that the promotion of international cooperation in the past few years symbolizes its commitment to education and academics.
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