UTAR forges close ties with Taiwan universities
TWO months after the visit by the Taiwan delegation of 12 universities led by its Minister of Education Dr Chiang Wei-ling to UTAR (Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman) on July 27, the university reciprocated with a similar visit to Taiwan from Oct 13 to 17.
The UTAR delegation to Taiwan was led by council chairman Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik and UTAR president Ir Prof Academician Datuk Dr Chuah Hean Teik.
The delegation included UTAR vice-president (R&D and Commercialisation) Ir Prof Dr Lee Sze Wei, Faculty of Science dean Assoc Prof Dr Lim Tuck Meng and Faculty of Engineering and Green Technology dean Dr Yap Vooi Voon.
Included in the itinerary were visits to several universities, namely Tamkang University, National Yang-Ming University, National Chiao Tung University, National Taiwan University and National Taipei University of Technology.
During the five-day visit, UTAR signed a joint MoU with National Yang-Ming University and University System of Taiwan, focusing on collaborative academic activities on medical and health sciences and on collaborations that include welcoming adjunct professors to UTAR.
The MoA exchange between UTAR and National Chiao Tung University included collaborations on student exchanges for postgraduate studies. Postgraduate students of both universities are allowed to utilise the research facilities at either universities for research and development purposes.
The university also signed an MoU with National Taipei University of Technology incorporating staff and student exchanges as well as research and development collaborations.
Going global is part of the university’s 10-year strategic plan. To date, UTAR has been having good rapport with other institutions of higher learning from as far as Germany, Poland, South Korea, Japan, Kenya, Tanzania and other economies.
Its prudent move to augment staff and students’ international networking via various international collaborations has been nothing but rewarding.
In fact, UTAR had forged formal collaborations with more than 25 universities in Taiwan previously, including National Tsing Hua University and I-Shou University.
The benefits UTAR students have reaped from the international collaborations are aplenty. Currently, four postgraduate students have been selected for internship in areas such as Psychology, Chinese Studies, Computer Science and Engineering under the National Chiao Tung University Elite Internship Programme.
UTAR lecturer Tian Kian Wee, who was accepted by National Taiwan University, will have his PhD thesis co-supervised by both National Taiwan University and UTAR. Upon completion, he will be conferred Doctor Philosophy in Life Science by National Taiwan University and the Doctor of Philosophy in Science by UTAR.
National Tsing Hua University has also been working with UTAR Institute of Chinese Studies since 2011 through the International Volunteer Programme to assist in collecting and preserving historical records and text at Gopeng Museum.
Besides that, there is also a growing number of students from UTAR receiving scholarships to pursue postgraduate studies at different universities at Taiwan.
The visit by the UTAR delegation was aimed at strengthening the relationships that had already been established with some of the major Taiwan universities besides seeking to explore new ones.
The visit was also at the invitation of Dr Chiang Wei-ling during his visit to UTAR in July for UTAR to explore further collaborations with other institutions of higher learning in Taiwan, which has a total of 162 universities.
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