Faculty from Case Western Reserve and Taipei Medical University will collaborate on research and education under an agreement the institutions reached last week. During a signing ceremony Friday on campus, President Barbara R. Snyder and her Taipei counterpart, President Yun Yen, each committed to a range of initiatives that stretch from student and faculty exchanges to joint research grant applications to government agencies in each country.
“This collaboration represents yet another way that Case Western Reserve continues to advance the commitment we made to internationalization in our 2008 strategic plan,” President Barbara R. Snyder said. “Taipei Medical University is an impressive university, and we look forward to working even more actively with their faculty and students. The greater our global engagement with other top institutions of higher education, the stronger our education and research programs will be.”
The three-year agreement calls for research collaborations focused on areas of excellence for both organizations: cancer; brain sciences; biomedical engineering, medical device and drug development; and geriatrics and long-term care. It also involves annual commitments of approximately $162,000 from Taipei Medical University and $10,000 from Case Western Reserve into a new research collaboration fund. Faculty members from both institutions can submit proposals to secure awards from the funds; a joint advisory board will make final decisions regarding recipients.
“This agreement will encourage additional collaboration among our universities and also provide resources to support important discoveries,” President Yen said. “I look forward to seeing the ideas and initiatives that come out of these shared efforts.”
The agreement also envisions opportunities for faculty to work together on projects that involve potential commercialization opportunities. President Yen’s visit included meetings with the deans of the School of Medicine and Case School of Engineering, university and medical school research leaders, as well as faculty from engineering and medicine.
Case Western Reserve and Taipei Medical University first agreed to seek opportunities to collaborate two years ago, and faculty and students have participated in several exchanges. In addition, representatives of the Case School of Engineering and Taipei Medical University have worked together to develop a dual master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering.