Japan's University of Tsukuba has named NTU, the University of California, Irvine, and France's University of Bordeaux as the three priority partner universities under its Super Global 30 Project. Having been provided with a JPY450 million budget over ten years, Tsukuba's Super G30 Project centers on its Campus-in-Campus "Jukebox" Program and aims to educate and elevate outstanding international students by providing an innovative globalized education.

Ties between NTU and the Japanese university were strengthened through a series of bilateral meetings this year. This was highlighted by the reciprocal establishment of overseas program offices on the two institutions' respective campuses. As it is our first overseas office, the opening of the NTU Program Office on the UT campus marked a milestone in NTU's drive to promote international education.

In February, during the 1st National Taiwan University and University of Tsukuba Joint Faculty Conference, UT's President Kyosuke Nagata paid a visit to NTU's Center for Teaching and Learning Development. The meeting allowed President Nagata to gain a deeper understanding of NTU's educational policies and direction as well as NTU's promotion of international education. President Nagata was thereby inspired by these references to help his university formulate its global education policies and determine its Super G30 partner universities and program directions.

Later in the year, between July 24-26, UT Vice President Caroline F. Benton visited the NTU campus as head of a 12-person delegation that included Director Osama Ohneda of UT's Office of Global Initiatives as well as Yoshito Kunmagai, chair of UT's Preparatory Committee for the Global Innovation Joint-Degree Program. While in Taiwan, the delegation introduced Tsukuba's Global Innovation Joint-Degree Program and Campus-in-Campus "Jukebox" Program, further laying the foreground for educational and research cooperation between our two institutions.

Then in late September, NTU President Pan-Chyr Yang led a delegation of over ten NTU representatives to attend the 2nd NTU-UT Joint Faculty Conference as well as the Tsukuba Global Science Week in Japan. While in Japan, the NTU delegation held a Trilateral Luncheon Meeting with officials from UT and the University of Bordeaux on September 28. In addition, the delegation participated in the Kick-off Meeting of the Global Innovation Joint-Degree Program together with officials from UT, the University of California, Irvine, and University of Bordeaux on September 30. Over the next three years, the four universities intend to develop Campus-in-Campus "Jukebox" Programs and joint-degree programs across three fields, with NTU and the University of Tsukuba working together on health innovation, and both universities teaming up with the University of Bordeaux on food security. NTU and UT also plan to work with the University of California, Irvine, to address the field of chrono-biomedicine.