Taiwanese delegation visits UCL

Links:

ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/international/countries/east-asia/taiwan" target="_self">Information for prospective students from Taiwan

On Tuesday 2 December 2008, Professor Derek A Tocher (UCL Pro-Provost for East and South East Asia) hosted a visit to UCL by the Presidents of Taiwan's 12 leading universities, a delegation that was led by Dr Ovid Tzeng (Minister without Portfolio in the Taiwanese Government).

The purpose of the visit was to explore ways to strengthen collaborative ties between UCL and centres of excellence in Taiwanese universities.

For UCL, Professor Michael Worton (UCL Vice-Provost, Academic & International) welcomed the delegation and introduced them to UCL's International Strategy; Professor Tocher introduced the UCL Research Strategy 'Four Grand Challenges', and Ms Penny Zorbas (UCL International Office) gave an overview of student recruitment and the role of the UCL Alumni Association in actively maintaining links between UCL and its students from Taiwan after they graduate. For the visiting delegation Dr Si-Chen Lee, President of the National Taiwan University gave the UCL delegation a detailed overview of the Taiwanese government's current plan for university expansion: 5 Years, 50 Billion Taiwanese Dollars - Promoting Academic Excellence of Universities & Developing World Class Research Centres.

Following the formal presentations, staff from across UCL were able to meet the delegation informally, not only to discuss their own particular ideas for collaboration, but also to renew old friendships. UCL has longstanding links with Taiwan, and currently has particularly strong research ties in the following areas: Biology; Chemical Engineering; Cognitive Neuroscience, Clinical, Educational & Health Psychology; Speech, Hearing and Phonetic Sciences; Statistical Science. It is hoped that this visit will initiate new research collaborations with Taiwan across all faculties at UCL.

The following Taiwanese universities were represented: National Taiwan University; National Cheng Kung University; National Tsing Hua University; National Chiao Tung University; National Central University; National Chung Hsing University; National Sun Yat-Sen University; National Yang Ming University; National Cheng Chi University; National Taiwan University of Science and Technology; Yuan Ze University; Chang Gung University.

Professor Worton and Professor Tocher were guests of the delegation at a private dinner hosted by the British Council the same evening.

Image: Professor Worton welcomes Taiwanese university leaders to UCL