"The result of almost a decade and a half of successful inter-collegiate cooperation, yesterday’s agreement aims at fortifying academic research cooperation, coordinating joint research projects and promoting academic exchanges between Taiwan and the Czech Republic," added Mr. Holý.
Following the Czech delegation’s arrival in Taiwan, representatives of academic and research institutions, including Radek Holy, Vice-rector of the Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU), Professor Zdenek Havlas, Vice President of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and Professor Hana Sychrova, member of the Council of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, visited National Taiwan University of Science and Technology to attend the NTUST-CTU MOU handover ceremony.
Ranked 432nd in 2021 according to the QS World University Rankings and renowned for its advancements in mechanical, electrical, structural engineering, as well as information management, natural sciences other engineering-related fields, the Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU) is one of Europe’s largest, oldest and most-established universities of science and technology. Similarly, Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taiwan’s top-flite university of science and technology, was ranked 267 world-wide by QS in 2021 and possesses world-class engineering, management, and design departments.
During September 1st’s MOU’s handover ceremony, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology President Ching-Jong Liao stated that NTUST-CTU sisterhood relations are not only the oldest, timewise, but also the most prolific of all similar such academic agreements between Taiwanese universities and the Czech Republic.
Since the initial signing of institution-level contracts between the two universities in 2006, more than 70 Taiwanese students have travelled to the Czech Technical University in Prague and over 70 Czech students have visited NTUST to participate in the NTUST-CTU’s flourishing student exchange program.
To date, the majority of said exchanges have transpired in NTUST’s schools of Management, Electronic Resources and Engineering. The NTUST-CTU exchange student program is phenomenally popular with students from both sides, with the Czech Republic being one of NTUST students’ most-favored exchange destinations.
NTUST President Liao also noted that, in addition to selecting and sending students abroad each year, both sides launched a dual-degree program in 2015 that enables students in the NTUST Institute of Electronics’ Master's Program to study at the Czech Technical University in Prague to obtain a dual NTUST-CTU master's degree, and, vice versa, for CTU students who opt to study at NTUST.
As noted, the recent visit’s purpose was to bolster research cooperation agreements and strengthen ongoing academic exchange, study and research ties. Both sides also pledged to intensify pan-university cooperation, synergize joint instructor and student projects, enable faculty and research fellow personnel cooperation, and establish joint multinational research synergy plans. It is hoped and expected that such developments shall give birth to expanded international industry-university cooperation opportunities and advanced research project creation. Another desired result is the mutual enhancement of each side’s international competitiveness.
Vice-rector of the Czech Technical University (CTU) in Prague Radek Holy presented the honorary CTU Gold Medal to President Ching-Jong Liao on behalf of CTU President Vojtech Petracek to express what he said was President Liao’s unflagging contribution to the development of higher education in the Czech Republic.
During the ceremony, CTU Vice-rector Radek Holy expressed his optimism that the renewed strengthening of NTUST-CTU ties shall yield continuous success, as well as spawn mutual communication and investment in the fields of intelligent transportation systems, information security, artificial intelligence and other such engineering domains in the years to come.