Following the visit of a National Taiwan Normal University delegation led by President Cheng-Chih Wu to Kyushu University in Japan last January, the two universities’ sisterhood deepens as they signed a Master's Double Degree Agreement on 7 March. The agreement enables NTNU's Master students from the College of Science and the College of Technology & Engineering to apply to study at Kyushu University for one semester (about five months), taking interdisciplinary science and engineering courses worth 20 credits. Upon completion of the NTNU Master's Program, thesis students will be granted Master’s degrees from both universities. The double-degree program is expected to have five open positions each year.

The signing ceremony was held at NTNU, attended by representatives from both universities including Kyushu University's Dean of Faculty of Engineering Sciences, Hideharu Nakashima; NTNU's Dean of College of Science, Jein-Shan Chen; and Dean of College of Technology & Engineering, Ching-Min Cheng. The ceremony was hosted by Professor Hsiang-Lin Liu from the Department of Physics along with attendees from NTNU such as Vice Dean of College of Science, Tsu-Yi Fu; Chair of the Department of Physics, Wen-Chin Lin; Vice Chair of the Department of Chemistry, Hsueh-Liang Wu; Professor of the Department of Fine Arts, Cheng-Huang Lin; Associate Professor of the Department of Earth Sciences, En-Chao Yeh; Vice Deans of College of Technology and Engineering, Li-Hsing Liu and Kuen-Yi Lin; Chair of the Department of Mechanical and Electro-Mechanical Engineering, Shun-Tong Chen; and Director of the Bachelor Program in Vehicle and Energy Engineering, Yi-Xuan Hong. Forty students were also present.

Dr. Yi-de Liu, Vice President for International Affairs, says that the dual degree agreement provides students with more opportunities for exchange. It also aims to promote cross-border research cooperation between faculty and students, facilitate laboratory exchanges, encourage international and inter-school collaboration among teaching and research staff, as well as establish cross-border research and industry-academia cooperation programs between the two universities.

After the meeting, the College of Technology & Engineering also arranged for the Japanese delegation to visit the Department of Mechatronic Engineering, the Automotive Engineering Program, and the Department of Electrical Engineering. The delegates first visited the clean room and microfabrication laboratory of the Department of Mechatronic Engineering, then Professor Yi-Hsuan Hung of the Automotive Engineering Program led the Kyushu University faculty to the electric car factory and automation robot laboratory, sharing about research achievements in precision mechanical manufacturing at NTNU. Finally, Director Jeng-Han Tsai of the Department of Electrical Engineering explained the display of robot-related research to the guests.

Kyushu University is a top research-oriented national university in Japan, excelling in the fields of science and engineering. It is also the strategic partner and sister school of NTNU. The exchange between NTNU and Kyushu University began in 2015. The signing of the Master's Double Degree Agreement marks a new milestone in the relationship between the two schools and enhances the diversity of research exchange between them. In the second half of 2023, NTNU plans to hold a cross-college forum with Kyushu University to facilitate the linkage of international education between departments and enhance students' global perspectives. Both schools also expect to continue mutual visits in the future and engage in exchange and academic cooperation in administrative benchmarks, bilateral academic forums, joint research projects, student exchange programs, and cross-border online collaborative teaching (I-COIL courses). During the visit to NTNU, Dean Hideharu Nakashima of Kyushu University took some time to play tennis with President Cheng-Chih Wu of NTNU on the tennis court. The two had previously met and exchanged views during President Wu's visit in January. This time, a friendly tennis match further drew them together.