<YU President Noh Seok-kyun (left) is giving a photographic edition of Cheonggudo (Treasure 1594)
of the YU Museum to University of Oxford Dean Hamilton of England as a gift>

 YU (President Noh Seok-kyun) signed MOUs on student exchange and joint research with prestigious universities and major research institutes of Europe to further expand its global education and research network.
 
 YU President Noh Seok-kyun, Industry-Academic Research Office Director Park Jin-ho, LINC Project Team Director Lee Hee-young, IT-Energy-BT Industry Customized Creative Chemical Human Resources Fostering Project Team Director Jung Jae-hak, School of Chemical Engineering Professor Oh Soo-young, and Department of Electronic Engineering Professor Park Il-gyu traveled together from the 9th to the 17th, right before the Lunar New Year holidays to the University of Oxford in England, University of Strasbourg in France, and Anhalt University, Martin-Luther University, and Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft to sign MOUs to pledge research cooperation and human exchange in fields such as renewable energy, nanotechnology, new materials, pharmaceuticals, and precision chemicals. 

 The University of Oxford that signed an MOU for exchange with YU is the oldest university in English-speaking nations. It boasts the world's top level in basic academic sectors and is one of the top 5 prestigious public universities in the world. With the signing of this MOU, Oxford and YU agreed to pursue research cooperation in the energy and nano-technology sectors, and decided to install the 'YU-Oxford Lab' within the YU LINC Project Team. Accordingly, it is expected that this will be an opportunity to upgrade the research and educational capacities of YU to global levels. 

 The University of Strasbourg in France is the largest university in France and graduated 10 Nobel Prize winners. Three of them are currently serving as professors and is world famous for convergence education that removed barriers between majors and its research capacities. It is currently carrying out international collaboration research in the solar cell sector with YU and student exchange is also active focusing on the College of Business and Economics and the YU-EU center. Through this MOU, it is expected that student exchange will be expanded to various academic fields and to review the introduction of joint PhD programs, as well as other exchanges with YU becoming more active. In particular, the University of Strasbourg is located in the province of Alsace, which is a sister-city with Gyeongsangbuk-do, so plans are being made to expand exchange and cooperation in other fields by pursuing human exchange and joint research with the University of Strasbourg starting with the renewable energy sector, which is the main industry of Gyeongsangbuk-do.

<University of Strasbourg Dean Alain Beretz fourth from right in counter-clockwise direction explains
the status of the university to Mr. Noh Seok-kyun> 

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft of Germany, which was established in 1949, is one of the four major government-funded research institutes of Germany and it is Europe's largest and leading institute for convergence research in the applied science sector employing over 24,000 researchers. In particular, the solar power research center under Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft carries out the highest level of research in the crystallized silicon solar cell and module sectors that currently account for over 90% of the solar power industry. The first Korea-Germany collaborative research project being pursued jointly by Korea's Ministry of Trade and Germany is being conducted with the YU research team (research supervisor: Professor Park Jin-ho). With the signing of this MOU, exchange and cooperation between Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and the YU solar cell research teams are expected to increase, and it is also anticipated that research cooperation will be pursued on advanced materials and particles. 

 
 Furthermore, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft maintains close cooperative relationships with Martin-Luther University and Anhalt University, both of which have recently become sister colleges with YU, and is leading venture start-ups and industry-academic cooperation, which is the growth engine of the German economy. Martin-Luther University is one of the oldest universities of Germany and is especially strong in basic sciences and humanities. Anhalt University is an engineering and technology college modeled after the practical education of Germany. 20% of the 9,000 enrolled students are international students from over 100 countries and is a college focusing on international cooperation. A large percentage of classes are in English and so students can enroll without taking separate exams in German, and its strength is that it provides field-oriented education specialized in each sector. With the signing of this MOU, it is expected that exchange in practical education and research will expand by linking up with the university specialized projects and LINC projects that YU has been pursuing. 

  By constructing partnerships with the prestigious universities and research institutes of Europe that boast long histories and top-notch educational and research capacities, YU has high anticipations that it will be able to provide wide educational opportunities to students and opportunities for high level research to professors. It is further significant in that it expanded its partnerships to universities and research institutes of Europe, instead of holding fast to its international exchange pattern focused on the United States. 

 YU President Noh Seok-kyun, who traveled to three countries in Europe in nine days said, "As the university now made sister relationships, it is now important to come up with execution plans so that it can lead to actual and practical exchange and cooperation." He added, "YU will take the lead to raise the level of college education and research of Korea, not only of YU, through mutual exchange of students and joint research among professors. As part of this, we will invite the dean of the University of Oxford for a special lecture for our students, and also meet with professors to search for real opportunities in the joint research sector." 

<Mr. Noh Seok-kyun shakes hands with Anhalt University President Orzessek after signing MOU>