Fostering talents who are acquainted with Europe before the coming Korea-EU FTA
Also hosted 'EU Center' supported by the European Union
[Nov 22, 2010]
Prestigious public universities of Europe that represent England and France have become global partners of Yeungnam University.
Through this, local bases to foster European leaders before the coming Korea-EU FTA were procured.
Lee, Hyo-soo, president of Yeungnam University, visited Europe from the 21st to the 27th and made the exchange agreements with Edge Hill University and Northumbria University of England, and the University of Strasbourg of France to construct global partnerships for student exchange programs, academic exchange and joint research.
Edge Hill University is a prestigious public university with a 125 year old history located in Liverpool, England with over 20,000 enrolled students. It won the Times Higher University Award in 2006, 2007 and 2010. In 2007 and 2010, it was chosen as the University of the Year.
Northumbria University is a public university located in New Castle, England and is the best new university selected by Times Online for the past 10 years. It has 35,000 students and it has over 3,000 international students, thus showing that it is quickly being globalized.
The University of Strasbourg is one of the largest universities of France located in the Alsace, which is also a sister-province of Gyeongsangbuk-do. It has 43,000 students in 38 colleges and also has over 4,000 researchers, while boasting a long tradition of 379 years. It graduated over 10 Nobel Prize winners including Albert Scheitzer who won the Nobel Peace Prize and Jean-Marie Lehn, who won the Nobel Prize in chemistry. In particular, with the recent participation in the 'Global Green Energy Cluster Network' that connects Yeungnam University with the US, France, Germany and Australia, it is expected that more active exchange focusing on the green energy sector in the future.
In relation to starting exchanges with prominent public universities of Europe, Lee, Hyo-soo stated, "Most Korean universities are conducting exchange policies focusing on the US, Japan and China, but there is a need to diversify this. In particular, because it is expected that the Korea-EU FTA will go into effect from July of next year, now is the time that more interchange with Europe is needed." He added, "The prestigious public universities of England and France, which we now have sister-relations with, will be a base for showing all of Europe not only Yeungnam University, but the Republic of Korea."
Meanwhile, Yeungnam University's plans to foster European leaders gained momentum with the hosting of the 'EU Center'. Recently, the EU selected Yeungnam University and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies as a prime negotiation candidate for the '2010 EU Center', and is scheduled to visit the universities for on-site examinations. The EU will provide 600,000 Euros (app. 900 million won) for 4 and a half years to Yeungnam University to strengthen education and research on the EU, and it is also planning to utilize it as a base for improving cooperation between the Asia·Pacific region and the EU. In Korea, EU Centers have been established and operated at Seoul National University in 2006, and Yonsei University and Pusan National University in 2008.
