Research Collaborations Amongst Asian Universities

1. Research Collaborations Amongst Asian Universities presented by Dr Su GuaningPresidentNanyang Technological University 14th November 2008

2. Agenda • Overview • The rise of the Asian economies and universities • Research collaborations amongst Asian Universities • Networks of Asian Universities • Nanyang Technological University’s collaborations

3. General Trends • Growing trend towards cross border collaboration especially for research • Currently research collaborations occurs mainly between US and European universities and institutions or between Asian universities and the US and European counterparts • Asian Universities are gaining prominence as their economies grow • Increasing affluence, growing attention on education and research in Asian countries • Opportunities for intra-Asian collaboration

4. International Collaboration in Research • One-fifth of the world's scientific papers are coauthored internationally • International collaboration is seen as a key mechanism for international scientific competitiveness • Singapore, for example, has been at work to become a major Asian education and research center via international collaborations • Establish an approach to attract "the best and the brightest" in the world to their institutions • Invest in world-class research centers of excellence • creating high-profile international partnerships • inviting world-class foreign universities to open campuses • Establishing a biomedical science park, Biopolis

5. Asia – Emerging Powerhouse • Asia’s dynamic economies include: • China • Hong Kong • India • Japan • Korea • Malaysia • Singapore • Taiwan Map source: http://www.geocities.com/toddemslie/asia-map.gif

6. Rise of Asian Economies • Growing affluence and explosion of education and training across Asian countries • Rise of the twin giants –China and India and their booming economies • Increasing number of collaborations especially research collaborations between Asian and overseas universities and institutions • Need to capitalise on the wealth of environmental resources and leverage on the advantages working between Asian universities

7. Leading Asian Universities Note: Adapted from Academic Ranking of World University

8. Collaborations • Modes of Collaborations • Research • Joint research centres and institutes • Faculty exchange • Joint research workshops and seminars • Joint appointments of faculty • Academic programmes • Student exchange Research Related

9. Establishing Research Collaboration WHY To ensure that all parties are agreeable with the mode of cooperation and the contribution. To create breakthrough technologies through leveraging on each party’s expertise. To facilitate matching by research interest and/or availability of resources. To work on novel ideas as discussed with the possibility of discovering breakthrough in research for all parties. To formalize the commitment and deliverables from each party. Identification of Opportunity and Discussion of Idea Discussion on Collaboration Framework Expertise-Resources Identification Commencement of Research Collaboration Signing of Contractual Agreement Through personal networks or associations for the Asian universities. Forging collaborations between parties with similar research focus area. To sign a MOU, LOI or research collaboration agreement by all parties. To start working on the project as stipulated in the contractual agreement. Discussion on mode of collaboration such as student & faculty exchanges, joint centres, research, etc. HOW

10. Motivation for Research Collaborations Amongst Asian Universities • Synergistic and complementary strengths of Asian universities • Rapid increase in S&T standards amongst Asian countries • E.g. the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics(1/2) goes to 2 co-PIs who worked from their institutions in Japan • Asian region possesses a wealth of biological resources and environments • Increasing closeness of economic relations • The escalating costs of conducting fundamental research • Similar culture and values • Geographical proximity and similar time zone • Ease and low cost of travel among the Asian countries

11. How can this be realised? • Network formation between Asian universities • Frequent student and staff exchanges to foster exchange of research ideas and to forge stronger collaborative ties through interactions • Programmes and projects in place to promote interaction and research collaborations amongst researchers from Asian universities • Formalised contractual agreements between Asian universities to collaborate on the research fronts • Formation of a task force to look at complementary research focus areas in Asia and/or for which Asian universities have key competitive advantage in

12. Networks Amongst Asian Universities to Promote Collaborations • ASEAN University Network (AUN) • The Association of East Asian Research Universities (AEARU) • South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) • Association for Science Cooperation in Asia (ASCA) • Association of Asian Social Science Research Councils (AASSREC) • Conference of Asian University Presidents (CAP) • Asian University Presidents’ Forum • Workshops, programmes and symposiums for Asian universities conducted from time to time on an ad-hoc basis or by agencies such as Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)

13. Programmes that Promotes Asian Universities Collaborations • A3 Foresight Programme • Consortium among JSPS, KOSEF and NSFC in advancing leading-edge research with an aim to establish a top- level research hub in Asia • JSPS Asian CORE Programme • To create world-class research hubs in selected cutting-edge fields or research within the Asian region through collaborations amongst researchers from Asian universities • JSPS Core University Programme • A framework for international cooperative research in specifically designated fields and topics, centering around core universities in Asia

14. NTU Facts and Figures • Top-ranked university • Among the world’s top 100 universities today * • First Singapore business schools to break into the top 50 ** in the world : Nanyang Business School • Globally-relevant • Cosmopolitan hub for 30,000 students and 4,000 faculty and staff from over 40 countries • Culture of innovation • Strong innovation ethos with a well-developed ecosystem for technology transfer and commercialization • First-class infrastructure • Engineering • Science • Art, Design and Media * The Times Higher Education Supplement 2008 ** Financial Times 2008

15. NTU Facts and Figures (Cont’d) • Nobel boost • 10 Nobel Laureates and a Fields medalist on NTU Institute of Advanced Studies’ panel of International Advisors • Interdisciplinary approach • Strong emphasis on interdisciplinary approach to research and education • Industry-academic partnership • Extensive research collaborations with industry, including technology-based partners such as EADS, Thales, Rolls-Royce, Robert-Bosch and Infineon

16. College of Engineering Chemical and Biomedical Engineering  Civil and Environmental Engineering Computer Engineering Electrical and Electronic Engineering  Materials Science and Engineering Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering College of Business Nanyang Business School College of Science Biological Sciences Physical and Mathematical Sciences College of Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences Art, Design and Media Wee Kim Wee Communication and Information Humanities and Social Sciences Colleges • Autonomous Institutes • S.Rajaratnam School of International Studies • National Institute of Education • Earth Observatory of Singapore

17. NTU Research Collaborations with Asian Universities • Objectives: Research collaborations in areas of NTU’s strengths • Mainly research collaborations on identified research areas of mutual interests ranging from Engineering, Life Sciences, Communications, Social Sciences and Natural Sciences. • May have an added mode of collaboration in the form of faculty exchange and/or student internship

18. Examples of NTU Research Collaborations with Other Asian Universities

19. The Nature of Collaboration • Playing with the Pros • Collaboration with the best to raise standards and gain reputation • Playing with peers • Complementarity and resource multiplier • Playing with up and coming friends • Service to world academia and future relationships • Collaboration with the West tend to be of the first category • But there are also advantages collaborating with good and solid universities who are like-minded • Whither intra-Asian collaboration?

20. Questions Bureaucracy Structural Compatibility Capability Name-dropping Collaborate or Compete?

21. Intra-Asian Collaboration • Constraints • Bureacracy • Structural and capability compatibility • Motivation • Complementarity • International relations • Quid-pro-quo • Collaborate or compete? • Students • Funds • Prestige

22. Preferred path • First create a favourable external environment • Then create opportunities for interaction especially among professors • Encourage the teaming up of professors across institutions • Place limited seed money to start • Tap own resources to match each others’ efforts

23. What University Presidents can do • Create a bottom up environment • Seek external resources • Build external environment • Most important – quality is no.1, not prestige! • Challenges: • Top down Asian culture and hierarchy • Tendency to go for brand names • Form over substance, publicity over results

24. Thank You