On 10 November 2018 prof. Ing. Vincent Kvočák, PhD., the Dean of the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the Technical University of Košice (TUKE), and prof. John C.-C., PhD., the Vice-dean of the Department of Civil Engineering of the Chung Hua University, signed the Memorandum on Cooperation between the universities and an agreement of permanent Subsidiary Office of the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the Chung Hua University.

Up until now, no university in Slovakia or Taiwan have had such a form of cooperation. This cooperation was started in 2012 by Ing. arch. Štefan Tkáč, PhD., a representative of the Faculty of Civil Engineering TUKE in Taiwan, when an idea emerged and the project has officially been implemented since 2015. The project is advancing faster than expected, since initially the signing was planned for 2019 and the opening for 2020.

Main objectives of the project:

• Linking TUKE and the Faculty to the local HUB in Hsinchu - consisting of two leading universities - National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) and National Tsing Hua University (NTHU), Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and Hsinchu Science Park,
• broadening the scope of activities and business activities of the TUKE (offer of existing laboratories services, creation of virtual laboratories, etc.),
• preventing brain drain on the basis of the creation of national working conditions for the Taiwanese academic market or the global market,
• creation of a comprehensive technical university programme under the dual guidance from bachelor´s programme through master´s to doctoral programme with a dual diploma and a possibility of a double licence,
• creating an active sustainable exchange programme for students and scientific researchers.

This form of cooperation will also ensure the presentation of Slovakia, culture, science and research and academic sector; and the development of digital education in the form of flipped classroom is also expected.

Taiwanese and Slovak students of the ERASMUS+ programme have already made exchanges at universities and, on the basis of the signed agreements; an increase in mutual interest is expected.

Background of the International Branch Campus (IBC) (activities since 2011):

• 7 years of active cooperation between the CHU and the TUKE at both faculty and university level
• three Memoranda of Understanding
• one bilateral agreement
• one ERASMUS+ mobility agreement (3+3 – 6 mobilities / 2017)
• one dual PhD programme
• two National Scholarship Programmes
• two Visegrad-Taiwan scholarships
• one SRDA - Slovak Research and Development Agency
• one International Branch Campus (Subsidiary Office of the TUKE)
• one Gold Medal at the Taipei International Invention Show and Technomart 2012
• one nationwide three-language research publication on Taiwan´s hydroelectric power plants, in cooperation with national energy company Taipower and Chinese Institute of Civil and Hydraulic Engineering CICHE.