KU-NAIST Double Degree MOA Signing Ceremony （2021/07/14）

 On July 14, NAIST and Kasetsart University (Thailand) held an online Signing Ceremony to conclude a Master's Double Degree Program agreement in the field of materials science. This is NAIST's first double degree program for master's students, and is considered to be a prominent output of ICE Matter, the International Collaborative Education Program for Materials Technology, Education and Research, in the framework of the AUN/SEED-Net Project (JICA Technical Cooperation Project for ASEAN University Network/Southeast Asia Engineering Education Development Network). ICE Matter has been operating since 2019 with Kasetsart University (KU) serving as a leader university and NAIST as a partner university. The ceremony was held extravagantly with the participation of more than 30 university faculty and administrators, and other guests, with the venues of KU and NAIST being broadcast live.

 Upon the opening of the ceremony, invited honorable guests Mr. Krit Tankanarat, Consul-General of the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Osaka, Dr. Yoshio Otani, Director of the JSPS Bangkok Office, and Dr. Tamon Ueda, Chief Advisor of the AUN/SEED-Net Project delivered congratulatory speeches on this occasion.
 Following these, KU President Dr. Chongrak Wachrinrat and NAIST President Dr. Kazuhiro Shiozaki both commented about how this new program's establishment is a result of more than 10 years of academic exchange and research collaboration between the two universities, and expressed their expectations for this new program to promote intercultural collaborative learning between ASEAN and Japanese students.
 Assoc. Prof. Oratai Jongprateep, who has played a central role as a member of ICE Matter on the KU side, described the educational collaboration between KU and NAIST that started in 2012 with internship exchange students and was followed by the consequent enrollment of talented KU graduates in NAIST's degree courses. She also explained that lectures were given by the NAIST faculty members at KU in the framework of ICE Matter, and this intensive academic exchange led to progress in research collaborations, publication of co-authored papers, and the establishment of the double degree program. In addition, KU officials emphasized that this program will not only strengthen collaboration between the two universities, but will also contribute to building cooperation with other universities in ASEAN and developing human resources in the region.
 Adding to this, Prof. Jun Ohta, Executive Director/Vice President and member of ICE Matter on the NAIST side stated, "This double degree program is an international collaborative education program based on joint research. I am confident that the program will run successfully because of active collaborative research that is already being conducted between faculty members of both universities." Prof. Hiroharu Ajiro, who also participates in ICE Matter, introduced students from Thailand studying in the Division of Materials Science and Asst. Prof. Nalinthip Chanthaset, who became a faculty member of NAIST after graduating from KU and obtaining a PhD degree at NAIST. Then he outlined the joint research with Thai researchers in his Nanomaterials and Polymer Chemistry Laboratory.
 Finally, the Presidents of both universities signed the Memorandum of Agreement, and the Ceremony ended as a great success.

KU provided live streaming of the ceremony and you can watch the video at any time from the following site
https://live.ku.ac.th/?p=8307