internationalization and multidisciplinary of science and technology research (wstf 2015 daejeon)
TRANSCRIPT
INTERNATIONALIZATION OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY EDUCATION AND RESEARCH
Worsak Kanok‐Nukulchai, Ph.D.President, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand
"Science Education and Human Resources Development“
20‐21 October 2015
Landscape of Research onScience and Technology
• Research for Mankind
• Research for Economic Gain
Public and International Funding
Private and Industrial Funding
Competition• Recent Higher Education Reform with
Government’s Budget Reduction Creates a Contestable Market
All cross‐border problems in the real‐world have no physical and disciplinary walls
Nature of Cross‐Border Issues.
Cross‐Border Issues.Issues like climate change, disasters, floods, pollution, share of international rivers, have no boundaries
Barbed wire can stop illegal migrants,but it cannot stop floods, typhoon, air‐pollution
Cross‐Border Issues.
Post‐Disaster Needs for Shelter and Sanitation are common globally, but with local touch.
AIT Habitech Technology AIT’s Solar‐Powered Toilet
Cross‐Border Issues.
1. International perspective2. Regional orientation3. Multidisciplinary approach 4. Cross national solutions5. Relevant research6. Knowledge dispersal in a market
economy 7. Politically neutral.
AIT : Regional Platform of Research for Mankind
Roles of AITProvide a neutral platform for international scholars to participate and contribute on interdisciplinary R&D of cross‐border issues of the world and the region.
AIT IS VERY FLEXIBLE‐‐EASY TO WORK WITH.
• Non‐profit• Independent• Bureaucrat‐Free• Niche, Flexible and Efficient
18
• Cross‐border, Trans‐boundary Issues• Regional Localization Issues• Regional Socialization Issues
AIT HAS SERVED AS NEUTRAL PLATFORM FOR
AIT WAS FOUNDED IN 1959, AS THE FIRST AUTONOMOUS INTERNATIONAL POST-GRADUATE INSTITUTE OF ASIA, HOSTED IN THAILAND.
AIT PLAYS A KEY ROLE IN REGION.• More than 20,000 alumni from 100 countries around the
world. Most of them are from the AEC region.
23
Thailand27.45%
Vietnam16.94%
Nepal5.58%
India5.45%
Bangladesh5.14%Sri Lanka
4.85%
Philippines4.49%
Taiwan4.17%
Pakistan4.09%
China4.05%
Indonesia3.79%
Myanmar3.32%
Cambodia1.96%
Laos1.59%
Malaysia1.52%
Europe1.57% Middle and Central Asia
1.06%
Africa 0.48% America
0.24% Others2.26%
AIT joins France to host regional Science and Climate Change Conference in 2015, as prelude to
global COP 21
Regional project to reinvent decentralized systems and technologies for treatment and safe disposal of human excreta and wastewater.
Total research grant: us$ 5 million
Project period:2011-2016
ThailandCambodiaVietnam
Sustainable Decentralized Wastewater Management in Developing Countries
Agricultural Learning Exchange for Asian Regional Networking (AgLEARN)
Total Research Grant: 899,000 USD
Project Period: 2013‐2016
Location of the Action: Nepal, Bangladesh, Cambodia with support from collaborators in Thailand, India and USA,
Sustaining and Enhancing the Momentum for Innovation and Learning around System of Rice Intensification (SLR) n the Lowe Mekong River Basin (LMB)
Total Research Grant: Euros 3.4 million (US$ 4.37 million)
Project Period: 2013‐2018
Location of the Action: Thailand, Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Viet Nam.
SRI‐LMB working in partnership with
AIT and World Wide Fund (WWF) Thailand awarded US$ 980,000 project from HSBC Water Sustainability
Program
“Building Capacity and Strengthening Community Participation for Water Resources Management and Wetland Ecosystem Restoration in the Context of Climate Change in Lower Songkhram River Basin”