Apr. 22, 2019
『 NTU International College Takes First Step in Cross-Disciplinary Bioagricultural Graduate Program 』
NTU International College will be the next driver of NTU's internationalization effort. It is aimed to enhance NTU's academic prestige and highlight Taiwan on the world map by building a brand for the school and multiplying the strengths of NTU's 11 existing colleges. The new College will first showcase NTU's distinctive cross-disciplinary graduate programs and then fulfill the school’s long-term mission of establishing English-taught bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs.
In its initial phase, the College will focus on the field of bioagriculture, leveraging NTU's formidable strengths and resources to cultivate bioagricultural talents, promote Taiwan's industrial development, and facilitate the internationalization of agricultural techniques to collaborate with other international institutes. The College will integrate academic and industrial resources at NTU to increase Taiwan's influence in the agricultural and biotech industries in Southeast Asia.
NTU ranked 82nd worldwide in the field of agriculture according to the 2018 Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities. Among the 19 researchers from Taiwan on the list of Highly Cited Researchers 2018, four were from NTU, two of whom were specialized in bioagriculture. NTU's bioagricultural programs cover a wide range of education, training, and research areas. Currently, NTU has 9 affiliated units, 12 research centers, and an annual number of 610 Industrial-Academic Cooperation Projects related to bioagriculture, which amount to 20% of the school's industrial-academic cooperation projects, indicating NTU's international influence and diversity in the field.
The cross-disciplinary bioagricultural graduate program will have two concentrations: (1) Genome Science and Technology and (2) Smart Engineering for Agriculture and Food Processing. Besides finding solutions to pressing issues, such as climate change, food security, and other global challenges, the program will be aligned with the nation's policy and develop innovative technologies to promote agricultural advancement. By training cross-disciplinary professionals and enhancing Taiwan's agricultural competitiveness, the program will open up a new era of agriculture.
Besides welcoming students from home and abroad, the program will also target university faculty members and government officials from Southeast Asian countries. This program will offer them access to advanced, cutting-edge knowledge and the basic practical skills of contemporary agriculture. This program will provide the perfect opportunity for students to achieve a higher academic status.
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▲Students focusing on an experiment
The program's course design places equal emphasis on professional education and practical knowledge. In addition, NTU's College of Bioresources and Agriculture and College of Life Science have collaborated with international research organizations and biotech companies, including the Corporate Synergy Development Center (CSD), Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), and International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). These collaborations provide students with opportunities to join research projects on an international scale, and offer them a rich platform for accumulating fieldwork experience, exercising their expertise, and expanding their academic horizons.
Graduates from this program will be equipped to assume high-level positions and become college professors, researchers, or innovation researchers in biotech companies. The program is scheduled to begin in the Fall Semester of 2020.
NTU International College Takes First Step in Cross-Disciplinary Bioagricultural Graduate Program