:::
Taipei Medical University and Tohoku University Strengthen Partnership through Joint Symposium
Taipei Medical University Achieves Rankings in THE World University 2024 by Subject
Join Us & Find Where You Belong
Taipei Medical University Ranked 43rd in THE Asia University Rankings 2023
:::

College of Nutrition and Tohoku University’s Faculty of Agriculture Forge New Chapter in Food Science Through Cross-Border Exchange

10/8/2024 Secretariat
On September 18th, Taipei Medical University (TMU) Chairman Ray-Jade Chen and President Mai-Szu Wu led a delegation of over 50 faculty members from five colleges to visit Tohoku University (TU) in Japan. On the 19th, the “Tohoku Forum for Creativity (TFC) 2024 – Designing Food for the Future” symposium was held, with Tohoku University President Teiji Tominaga and TMU President Mai-Szu Wu serving as opening guests, kicking off the symposium.

In his opening remarks, President Wu introduced TMU’s current status and globalization efforts, expressing his hope to continue and deepen the long-term exchange with Tohoku University, emphasizing the theme of “Bridging Borders, Building Futures.” Following this, Prof. Martha Ann Belury, Past President of the American Society for Nutrition (ASN), current Chair of the Department of Food Science and Technology at the Ohio State University, and a visiting professor at TMU’s School of Nutrition and Health Sciences, delivered a keynote speech.


The TMU College of Nutrition and Tohoku University’s Faculty of Agriculture have maintained a strong relationship for over 18 years. Prof. Rong-Hong Hsieh, Dean of the College of Nutrition, pointed out that the focus of collaboration includes joint research, student exchange, and dual PhD program. The symposium between Tohoku University and the College of Nutrition was four years in the making, initiated by Tohoku University’s establishment of Japan’s first formal international visiting scholar research center in 2013 – the “Tohoku Forum for Creativity” (TFC), which primarily facilitates international collaborative research. Through the Forum, the TFC annually opens calls for several programs such as Thematic Programs and Junior Research Programs. In 2021, at the invitation of Tohoku University’s Faculty of Agriculture, the College of Nutrition applied for TFC as a co-organizer and successfully obtained funding. Since 2022, the two parties have successively held a series of TFC events, culminating in a three-day official event at Tohoku University on September 19th, 2024.

To underscore the importance of the cooperation with Tohoku University, the College of Nutrition specially invited faculty and students to participate in the event in Japan. A total of 19 faculty members, 3 retired professors, and 11 students attended the symposium. Additionally, one postdoctoral researcher, two master’s students currently conducting short-term exchanges at Tohoku University, and two alumni of the School of Nutrition and Health Sciences pursuing master’s degrees at Tohoku University also joined the event.


The symposium “International Symposium on Designing Foods for the Future” invited five faculty members and one postdoctoral researcher from the College of Nutrition to deliver keynote speeches. On the second day, Associate Professors Kai-Wei Liao, Shin-Ping Lin, and Yi-Tien Chen, from the School of Food Safety presented on the topics of “Food Safety and Security,” “Approach Based on Planet and Microorganisms Materials,” and “Approach Based on Marine Materials and Its Safety” respectively. On the third day, Assistant Professors Ya-Ling Chen from School of Nutrition and Health Sciences and Ya-Tin Lin from the Graduate Institute of Metabolism and Obesity Sciences and Dr. Yi-Fen Chiang from the School of Nutrition and Health Sciences shared their research in the “Discussions with Junior Researchers” session. Notably, 11 students from the College of Nutrition presented poster papers, and one PhD student received the Best Poster Award.

Since the initial signing of a college-level MOU in 2006 between TMU College of Nutrition and TU Faculty of Agriculture, thus establishing an academic partnership, these two academic units signed a student exchange agreement in 2022, providing scholarships for the students of College of Nutrition to participate in exchange programs for 3 to 6 months each year. In the same year, the two parties began discussing a dual PhD program. Through two years of efforts and with the strong support of the current deans, Dean Haruki Kitazawa and Dean Rong-Hong Hsieh, TMU College of Nutrition and TU Faculty of Agriculture formally agreed on the content of the dual PhD program and signed the agreement in 2024. Both parties will have students enrolled in this dual degree program in 2025.


Dean Rong-Hong Hsieh pointed out that in addition to the dual PhD program, the cooperation with Tohoku University includes faculty and student exchanges, joint research projects, co-teaching, co-supervision of graduate students, and co-organizing international symposiums. Coinciding with the expiration of the agreement, TU Faculty of Agriculture took this opportunity to hold a renewal ceremony, with Dean Haruki Kitazawa and Dean Rong-Hong Hsieh renewing the MOU and its two annexes: the student exchange agreement and the dual PhD program agreement, jointly witnessing the solid friendship between the two parties in their pursuit of academic excellence.

The final event of the TFC 2024 series will be held at Taipei Medical University from October 25th to 26th, hosted by the College of Nutrition and co-organized by TU’s Faculty of Agriculture and TMU’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences. The topic of the symposium is “Functional Foods, Medicinal Foods, and Food Psychology.” To express their friendship and support for the College of Nutrition, Dean Haruki Kitazawa of Tohoku University’s Faculty of Agriculture will lead a delegation of 13 professors and 2 administrative staffs to visit, marking the largest-scale visit since the establishment of the partnership between the two parties.

The cooperation between TMU’s College of Nutrition and Tohoku University’s Faculty of Agriculture has evolved from initial exchanges between individual faculty members to a full-scale college-level collaboration, with a focus on cultivating young scholars. This win-win partnership exemplifies the best of international exchange.

Source: Office of Global Engagement