Academic Exchange Program Overview
National Chung-Hsing University (NCHU) and Academia Sinica (AST) Academic Exchange Program
Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef (right) and President Jei-Fu Shaw (left). (see more pictures here)
In November 2007, the President Jei-Fu Shaw of National Chung Hsing University (NCHU) Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef of UC Davis signed five-year cooperation agreements, opening up a path for faculty visits, student exchanges, and collaboration in research and teaching.
Members of the UC Davis delegation to NCHU for the signing event included Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef, Assistant Vice-Provost Robert Kerr, Dean Kenneth C. Burtis of the College of Biological Sciences, Dean Winston Ko of the Division of Mathematical and Physical sciences, College of Letters and Sciences, Dean Neal Van Alfen of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and professors William J. Lucas, Raymond L. Rodriguez, and Jacquelyn Gervay-Hague. In addition to meetings with key administrators and faculty at the NCHU, the UC Davis delegation met with representatives at the Academia Sinica, the Taiwan Ministry of Education and the National Taiwan University.
Distinguished Professor William Lucas (left) and President Jei-Fu Shaw (right). (see more pictures here)
After the signing of an Agreement of Cooperation (AOC) and a Working Agreement (WA) between UC-Davis and NCHU to support the development of research programs having global impact in specific key areas, the following five potential areas were identified for further discussion.
- Global Health (e.g., sustainable food systems that underpin animal and human nutrition, tropical/sub-tropical agriculture),
- Signaling Networks (e.g., organismal/biomedical signaling systems, epigenomics/non-coding RNA as bioengineering tools),
- Plant Functional Genomics (e.g., rice functional genomics, orchid genomics),
- Biofortification and Bioavailability (e.g., creating nutritionally diverse and heath-promoting foods through genetic enhancement of crops) and
- Sustainable Energy (e.g., biofuels, solar, wind and other renewable energy systems).