Transcending Borders: NTU, UTsukuba, and UBx Launch Joint-Degree Program

In 2014, the University of Tsukuba (UTsukuba) named National Taiwan University (NTU) and the University of Bordeaux (UBx) as priority partners under its Super Global 30 Project that comes with a JPY450 million budget over 10 years. Tsukuba's Super G30 Project centers on its Campus-in-Campus "Jukebox" Program and aims to educate and elevate outstanding international students by providing an innovative globalized education. In only three years, NTU, UTsukuba, and UBx witness fruitful results as they celebrate the launch of the Global Innovation Joint-Degree Program (GIP-TRIAD) at the annual Tsukuba Global Science Week.

Tsukuba Global Science Week (TGSW) was conceived as a solution to a wide range of emerging global issues that call for worldwide collaboration of scientists for solutions. By bringing together internationally renowned researchers and aspiring young researchers and students, TGSW covers a wide variety of topics and provides a platform for sharing the latest research results, carrying out transdisciplinary conversations, and providing a synergy for action to tackle 21st-century problems. Thus, the last week of September (25-27) becomes an invaluable international networking opportunity for more than 1,800 participants to ignite transdisciplinary, trans-organizational, and trans-border collaborations.

As an active contributor for the past three years, NTU’s Executive Vice President for Academics and Research, Prof. Tei-Wei Kuo (郭大維; who also served as NTU’s interim president in October) led a delegation of more than 60 professors and students to partake in TGSW 2017. With “Science for Social Innovations” as the main theme, TGSW 2017 attracted more than 300 speakers from 48 countries and 158 institutions.

The annual gathering opened with welcome remarks from Zhong-Xi Guo (郭仲熙), Deputy Director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan. To kick off UTsukuba’s “International Taiwan Studies,” NTU’s Former President Pan-Chyr Yang (楊泮池) gave a plenary speech on “The Strategy and Infrastructure of Biotech Development in Taiwan” to share the development of biotechnology and translation medicine in Taiwan. Former President Yang’s comprehensive analysis on Taiwan’s recent advanced medical research and biotechnology impressed the audience, including the presidents of Pohang University of Science and Technology (Korea) and the University of Chile.

On September 26, Vice President for International Affairs, Prof. Luisa Shu-Ying Chang (張淑英), and Deputy Vice President for Academic Affairs, Yao-Wen Chang (張耀文), were invited to attend a Campus-in-Campus meeting, which was also joined by representatives from UBx, the University of California, Irvine (UCI), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), and the University of Sao Paulo (USP). The meeting evaluated achievements and aspired to future advancements as these educators put their heads together in hopes of achieving a transnational online learning mechanism. Now, resource integration for a truly borderless education seems just around the corner!

In celebration of this strategic partnership, NTU representatives hosted a banquet in honor of their colleagues at the University of Tsukuba. NTU was privileged to receive the attendance of President Kyosuke Nagata (永田恭介) and Vice President for International Affairs Caroline Benton while professors, students, and staff from both sides sat side by side to express gratitude and friendship between the two universities.

An agreement exchange ceremony on September 27 became the highlight of the event. On NTU’s behalf, Executive Vice President Kuo participated in the ceremony which signified the official launch of the GIP-TRIAD—a program that features the mobility of students, moving each semester from Japan to Taiwan to France. Students are given the opportunity to take classes and receive research guidance at each university and country. The program also incorporates the unique merits of the three universities, which compliments and enhances one another, giving each student a truly global experience.

In addition to TGSW 2017, the week ended with Executive Vice President Kuo (NTU) and Vice President Benton’s (UTsukuba) visit to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan. They met with Ambassador Chang-Ting Hsieh (謝長廷) to introduce the GIP-TRIAD joint master’s degree program and seek government support. Pleased with the accomplishments made by the two universities, Ambassador Hsieh encouraged NTU to continue to deepen ties with Japanese partners and to lead Taiwan’s higher education towards globalization.

(Source: Cher Chiu, Office of International Affairs, NTU)