JGU President Georg Krausch visits Seoul and Beijing: Consultations on innovative measures to strengthen and support exchange in research and teaching with top-class Asian universities
11.10.2011
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) intensifies its existent partnerships with some of the leading top-class universities in Asia, i.e. Seoul National University (SNU) in Seoul, Korea, and Peking University in Beijing, China. JGU President Professor Georg Krausch met with the President of Seoul National University, Professor Oh Yeon-Cheon, and with the Vice President for International Affairs of Peking University, Professor Li Yansong, to discuss innovative measures to strengthen and support the institutional cooperation for the consistent exchange of students, researchers, and teaching staff between Mainz University and SNU and Peking University, respectively. "The goal of our agreements is the further improvement of JGU's international visibility and reputation to make Mainz University even more prominent and attractive for international students and scientists," states JGU President Professor Dr. Georg Krausch. "We have had close cooperations with Seoul National University and Peking University for many years now, particularly in the field of science and research. We will build on these to design and implement new innovative measures aiming at a new quality of international cooperation in research, teaching, and graduate education.
To this effect, the JGU President and the Presidents of Seoul National University and Peking University agreed
- to organize joint bi- and tri-national summer schools for graduate students to bring together the research expertise of JGU, SNU, and Peking University, and to strengthen the international visibility of Mainz University.
- to award so-called Gutenberg Professorships to distinguished members of the academic staff of SNU and Peking University with strong ties to Mainz University. These Gutenberg Professors will act as "ambassadors" of JGU at their institutions. JGU will provide concepts of research management to these Gutenberg Professors.
- to encourage and finance mutual visits and exchanges of distinguished researchers.
"In the near future, we will negotiate additional agreements with our partners in the United States of America, particularly with Stanford University and the University of California in Santa Barbara", explains the President of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Professor Dr. Georg Krausch. "Within our international network, these partner universities become what we call 'Gutenberg satellites' which help to increase the visibility of JGU and its top-level research. At Mainz University, the international cooperation among researchers is supported by a network of 145 cooperation agreements with partner universities on all continents as well as 16 memorandums of academic cooperation. Furthermore, JGU counts another almost 700 individual cooperation agreements with European partner universities within the ERASMUS program, in which Mainz University has been occupying a leading position over the past five years.
While being in Seoul, University President Professor Dr. Georg Krausch also met with the President of the Dankook University, Professor Hosung Chang, for cooperation talks, and honored Kookheon Char, professor of chemical engineering at Seoul National University, by presenting him with the certificate of appointment as a Fellow of the Gutenberg Research College (GRC). Doing research and teaching at the interface of polymer chemistry and polymer physics at the College of Engineering at SNU, Char is one of JGU's cooperation partners in the International Research Training Group 1404 - Self-organized Materials for Optoelectronics. He is a well-recognized scientist with about 180 publications in internationally renowned science journals. Char received the Gutenberg Research Award of Mainz University in 2006; in 2008 he was awarded the Young Engineer Award of the National Academy of Engineering in Korea (NAEK). He was named Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) in 2010. With the now awarded Fellowship of the Gutenberg Research College, JGU supports Professor Char's visits to Mainz University over the coming three years. In addition, the Materials Science in Mainz (MAINZ) Graduate School of Excellence contributes two scholarships for graduate students and will finance research trips of MAINZ doctoral candidates to Seoul National University.