National Taipei University (NTPU) strengthens International academic collaborations through Global Mobility Program, facilitating “Short-term Research Exchange” and “Co-supervision”. The goal is to promote cross-cultural scholarly cooperation and enrich international experiences for students and faculty members.
The latest partnership is with the renowned Utrecht University in the Netherlands. This new collaboration stems from existing research ties between faculty members at the two institutions. The initiative was spearheaded by Dr. Thijs Velema, Dean of International Affairs and Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology, and Dr. Jarno Hoekman, Associate Professor in the Department of Sustainable Development at Utrecht University. Their prior joint research laid the groundwork for this program.
Under an academic internship agreement, Alexandre Thoma and Eva Tamara Boterman—master students of Utrecht University—applied through NTPU’s Exchange Student Program for the 2024 Spring semester to conduct their thesis research projects in Sustainable Food at the final stage of their study. Alex and Eva highly recommend the short-term research exchange experience at NTPU, despite initial language barriers and cultural differences. It allows them to learn how to manage time effectively, such as taking intensive language courses and working on a master’s thesis at the same time. Most importantly, having two supervisors also further enriched their cross-cultural perspectives. Alex and Eva were also invited to share their thesis-writing experiences with NTPU’s students at the Department of Sociology on 15th May to give them a comprehensive understanding of how to write a thesis.
Dr. Hoekman stated that co-supervision is very necessary for this project. The local supervisor could provide thesis guidance and his / her perspectives and feedback. Dr. Velema mentioned that two supervisors could offer diverse research opinions which could enable students to evaluate which suggestions would benefit their research from different viewpoints, and would require a similar theoretical basis. At the same time, it can also help teachers understand how different schools supervise students.
Dr. Hoekman believes that this exchange program model is actually quite simple. He advises that faculty interested in participating in international exchange programs in the future should start with smaller, less complex initiatives. Dr. Velema also added that OIA welcomed more international scholars and students to conduct research at NTPU which could serve as their host institution. This cooperation model might be more intensive but could be implemented efficiently with relatively limited resources.
To enhance global academic mobility and scholarly impact, OIA actively explores various international research collaboration possibilities, aiming to further expand this program in the coming years. We hope that this experience can demonstrate to NTPU faculty members that international exchanges with overseas research partners can be straightforward through short-term research exchanges and co-supervision.
