NTNU President Leads Delegation to visit top universities in Japan
In January of 2015, NTNU President Kuo-en Chang led a delegation, including NTNU Vice-president Chih-fu Cheng, Dean of Student Affairs Shao-hsi Chang, and Dean of International Affairs Frank Ying, as well as staff from the Mandarin Training Center and Office of International Affairs, to the Kansai region of Japan to visit NTNU’s sister universities. The purpose of the visit was to further solidify the foundation for future exchange.
Osaka University is ranked 55th in the world, according the QS World University Rankings. In 2011, the Colleges of Liberal Arts at NTNU and Osaka University first signed a memorandum of understanding and a student exchange agreement. This marked the beginning of cooperation and exchange between the two universities. In 2013, Osaka University signed a further agreement with NTNU’s College of International Studies and Social Sciences. To enhance the level of cooperation, President Kuo-en Chang paid a special visit to Osaka University President Toshio Hirano. President Chang was warmly welcomed and both sides agreed to expand cooperation in the near future.
The NTNU group also visited the presidents of two other sister schools located in the Kyoto area, Mikio Yoshida at Ritsumeikan University, and Koji Murata at Doshisha University. NTNU has already been cooperating with Ritsumeikan University for more than seventeen years. Up to thirty students from each school participate in exchange programs each semester. Including other short term exchanges, the overall number of exchange students is more than one hundred. In the future, the two universities hope to further expand cooperation to include short term faculty exchange.
Doshisha University is of one the core thirteen universities selected by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Science and Culture to promote the internationalization of higher education. In 2008, Doshisha University signed a sister university agreement with NTNU and began a semester exchange program. Potential exists for yet further exchange in the future.
In addition to official meetings, President Chang also visited exchange students from NTNU to see how they are adapting to studying and living in Japan. For these students living abroad, meeting with scholars from home provided some precious warmth on a cold winter’s day!