NCCU Expands Its Collaboration to European Higher Education! President Tsai-Yen Li leads a Delegation to visit Paris’ Top Universities
Date :
2025-09-30
Department :
Office of International Cooperation (OIC)
【Article by OIC】
National Chengchi University (NCCU) has taken a major step in deepening its ties with Europe, with President Tsai-Yen Li leading a high-level delegation to Sweden and France to expand international exchange and forge new partnerships with top universities.
From September 9, 2025 to September 12, 2025, President Tsai-Yen Li, as chairman of the Higher Education Foundation’s Board of Directors, attended the 2025 European Association for International Education (EAIE 2025)’s annual meeting in Gothenburg, Sweden for the purpose of strengthening international exchange and expanding NCCU’s network across European higher education institutions. Immediately afterward, President Li led NCCU’s delegation to Paris to visit four important institutions of higher education: Sciences Po, Paris Dauphine-PSL University, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), and Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ). Some of these institutions signed agreements to commit to international exchange and establish a greater foundation for closer collaboration between NCCU and Europe’s leading institutions of higher learning.
For the purpose of expanding NCCU’s network of European higher education collaboration, President Tsai-Yen Li led a group to visit Paris’ leading academic institutions. The delegation included Vice President for International Cooperation Yi-Ning Katherine Chen and Distinguished Professor of Sociology, Tzung-Wen Chen. The visit’s first stop was Sciences Po, to meet with the group known as “The French President’s Cradle,” which has alumni spread across politics, business, and educational circles. This year was Science Po’s President Luis Vassy’s first visit to Taiwan where both parties met for the first time. Now in a reciprocal visit, NCCU’s delegation visited Paris, to further develop cooperation, sincerity, and mutual trust. Vassy pointed out that Science Po’s students were some of France’s best and was pleased to see long lasting cooperation develop with NCCU in geopolitics, economics, and other fields. Sciences Po’s students affirmed that coming to Taiwan to study was a highly rated experience, and that this Fall semester 2025 had many more Sciences Po students attend NCCU exchange programs, displaying that NCCU has already become one of French students’ highly rated choices.
President Li expressed that in the future, Sciences Po and NCCU will have opportunities to conduct exchanges in the fields of business, law, communication, education, and artificial intelligence. Both institutions promote short-term programs, exchange programs, research collaborations, doctoral student overseas teaching opportunities, jointly taught classes and executive training programs. In the next year, Sciences Po will establish the “Paris Climate School,” to be a center for case studies research and corporate internships. This initiative is highly aligned with NCCU’s alignment to perpetually develop itself in sustainable governance and business studies, and so this collaboration is highly anticipated. Both universities also promote diverse exchanges, such as NCCU’s International Summer School (ISS), and Sciences Po’s executive training program which operates camps in the summer and winter, and will seek to align joint systems for overseas teaching systems for doctoral students to deepen the strength of qualified teachers and the interaction of systematic learning.
Université Paris Dauphine University, regarded as the founding member of PSL University, maintains a global reputation in the business and social sciences fields, and has formed collaborations with over 150 universities of higher education across the globe. In 2011, Université Paris Dauphine became a sister university with NCCU, after both universities signed an exchange student agreement. During this year’s meeting, both universities agreed to renew their exchange student agreements and expand course selection options outside the business field into the social sciences as well. Université Paris Dauphine hopes this initiative will re-establish the students’ faith in conducting exchanges in Asia, which has waned since the Covid-19 pandemic.
École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), a graduate school focused on research, was also an important stop for this visit and its overall objective of exchange. President Tsai-Yen Li proposed that both schools by means of the National Science Council’s “Taiwan-France Orchid Plan” or by international seminars, can promote scholarly exchange in relevant fields and, simultaneously as a research center, promote collaboration. EHESS actively expanded its Ph.D’s standing in international exchanges, including doctoral student summer workshops, with a future opportunity for some to be held in Taiwan. Outside of this, EHESS and NCCU doctoral students can also receive a dual-degree through the Cotutelle program. EHESS’ “Visiting Professor Program” annually selects approximately 130 international scholars to give lectures every year and EHESS welcomes NCCU professors to apply. The goal of both sides is to negotiate a university-level collaboration memorandum, and to examine the possibility for masters’ student level exchanges. In the future, EHESS and NCCU hope that the scope expands outside of just Taiwanese studies to encompass Russian studies, Arab studies, and more.
NCCU’s delegation also visited Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ), located in Paris’ suburbs, and officially signed an international student exchange agreement with UVSQ President Loïc Josseran. This agreement is not only for both universities to establish an institutionalized collaboration framework, but to also symbolize a commitment to bilateral educational and cultural exchanges. This agreement hopes to establish a foundation of reciprocal student mobility and long-term collaboration. UVSQ, has a remarkable academic standing among France’s higher education systems, and highly values collaboration and linked cooperation in the Asian region. Both sides anticipate that via this signed agreement, UVSQ can attract more French students to complete exchanges in Taiwan, in order to fully experience the diversity of Taiwan’s academic and well-rounded cultural environments. Reciprocally, NCCU also welcomed more students coming from Taiwan to study in France, to expand their international perspectives and promote cultural understanding. Both universities believe that this collaboration is the first step to promoting academic research, talent cultivation, globalization, and will deepen the partner relationship between the two institutions.
During NCCU’s delegation’s time in Paris, the delegation were also invited to a small welcoming dinner hosted by Taiwanese Ambassador to France Hao Pei-Chih. Among the guests was Prof. Pierre-Paul Zalio, President of Condorcet Campus and scientific advisor to the French President, who visited NCCU in early September. In attendance, Ambassador Hao and President Zalio all spoke of the increasing importance of Taiwanese studies in French academia, and all agreed that NCCU’s visit strengthened NCCU’s overall collaborations within higher education. Finally, Director of the Education Division at the Taipei Representative Office in France, Madam Lu Mei-chen, expressed her intention to continue assisting NCCU with deepening its ties in France.
From Gothenburg, Sweden, to Paris, France, NCCU actively expands its ties to higher education in Europe. In the future, NCCU hopes to continue to join hands with Europe’s leading institutions to create lasting continuous ties in academic research, talent cultivation, and sustainability research. Unfolding before one’s eyes is Taiwan’s strength and resilience in higher education on the international stage.
National Chengchi University (NCCU) has taken a major step in deepening its ties with Europe, with President Tsai-Yen Li leading a high-level delegation to Sweden and France to expand international exchange and forge new partnerships with top universities.
From September 9, 2025 to September 12, 2025, President Tsai-Yen Li, as chairman of the Higher Education Foundation’s Board of Directors, attended the 2025 European Association for International Education (EAIE 2025)’s annual meeting in Gothenburg, Sweden for the purpose of strengthening international exchange and expanding NCCU’s network across European higher education institutions. Immediately afterward, President Li led NCCU’s delegation to Paris to visit four important institutions of higher education: Sciences Po, Paris Dauphine-PSL University, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), and Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ). Some of these institutions signed agreements to commit to international exchange and establish a greater foundation for closer collaboration between NCCU and Europe’s leading institutions of higher learning.
For the purpose of expanding NCCU’s network of European higher education collaboration, President Tsai-Yen Li led a group to visit Paris’ leading academic institutions. The delegation included Vice President for International Cooperation Yi-Ning Katherine Chen and Distinguished Professor of Sociology, Tzung-Wen Chen. The visit’s first stop was Sciences Po, to meet with the group known as “The French President’s Cradle,” which has alumni spread across politics, business, and educational circles. This year was Science Po’s President Luis Vassy’s first visit to Taiwan where both parties met for the first time. Now in a reciprocal visit, NCCU’s delegation visited Paris, to further develop cooperation, sincerity, and mutual trust. Vassy pointed out that Science Po’s students were some of France’s best and was pleased to see long lasting cooperation develop with NCCU in geopolitics, economics, and other fields. Sciences Po’s students affirmed that coming to Taiwan to study was a highly rated experience, and that this Fall semester 2025 had many more Sciences Po students attend NCCU exchange programs, displaying that NCCU has already become one of French students’ highly rated choices.
President Li expressed that in the future, Sciences Po and NCCU will have opportunities to conduct exchanges in the fields of business, law, communication, education, and artificial intelligence. Both institutions promote short-term programs, exchange programs, research collaborations, doctoral student overseas teaching opportunities, jointly taught classes and executive training programs. In the next year, Sciences Po will establish the “Paris Climate School,” to be a center for case studies research and corporate internships. This initiative is highly aligned with NCCU’s alignment to perpetually develop itself in sustainable governance and business studies, and so this collaboration is highly anticipated. Both universities also promote diverse exchanges, such as NCCU’s International Summer School (ISS), and Sciences Po’s executive training program which operates camps in the summer and winter, and will seek to align joint systems for overseas teaching systems for doctoral students to deepen the strength of qualified teachers and the interaction of systematic learning.
Université Paris Dauphine University, regarded as the founding member of PSL University, maintains a global reputation in the business and social sciences fields, and has formed collaborations with over 150 universities of higher education across the globe. In 2011, Université Paris Dauphine became a sister university with NCCU, after both universities signed an exchange student agreement. During this year’s meeting, both universities agreed to renew their exchange student agreements and expand course selection options outside the business field into the social sciences as well. Université Paris Dauphine hopes this initiative will re-establish the students’ faith in conducting exchanges in Asia, which has waned since the Covid-19 pandemic.
École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), a graduate school focused on research, was also an important stop for this visit and its overall objective of exchange. President Tsai-Yen Li proposed that both schools by means of the National Science Council’s “Taiwan-France Orchid Plan” or by international seminars, can promote scholarly exchange in relevant fields and, simultaneously as a research center, promote collaboration. EHESS actively expanded its Ph.D’s standing in international exchanges, including doctoral student summer workshops, with a future opportunity for some to be held in Taiwan. Outside of this, EHESS and NCCU doctoral students can also receive a dual-degree through the Cotutelle program. EHESS’ “Visiting Professor Program” annually selects approximately 130 international scholars to give lectures every year and EHESS welcomes NCCU professors to apply. The goal of both sides is to negotiate a university-level collaboration memorandum, and to examine the possibility for masters’ student level exchanges. In the future, EHESS and NCCU hope that the scope expands outside of just Taiwanese studies to encompass Russian studies, Arab studies, and more.
NCCU’s delegation also visited Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ), located in Paris’ suburbs, and officially signed an international student exchange agreement with UVSQ President Loïc Josseran. This agreement is not only for both universities to establish an institutionalized collaboration framework, but to also symbolize a commitment to bilateral educational and cultural exchanges. This agreement hopes to establish a foundation of reciprocal student mobility and long-term collaboration. UVSQ, has a remarkable academic standing among France’s higher education systems, and highly values collaboration and linked cooperation in the Asian region. Both sides anticipate that via this signed agreement, UVSQ can attract more French students to complete exchanges in Taiwan, in order to fully experience the diversity of Taiwan’s academic and well-rounded cultural environments. Reciprocally, NCCU also welcomed more students coming from Taiwan to study in France, to expand their international perspectives and promote cultural understanding. Both universities believe that this collaboration is the first step to promoting academic research, talent cultivation, globalization, and will deepen the partner relationship between the two institutions.
During NCCU’s delegation’s time in Paris, the delegation were also invited to a small welcoming dinner hosted by Taiwanese Ambassador to France Hao Pei-Chih. Among the guests was Prof. Pierre-Paul Zalio, President of Condorcet Campus and scientific advisor to the French President, who visited NCCU in early September. In attendance, Ambassador Hao and President Zalio all spoke of the increasing importance of Taiwanese studies in French academia, and all agreed that NCCU’s visit strengthened NCCU’s overall collaborations within higher education. Finally, Director of the Education Division at the Taipei Representative Office in France, Madam Lu Mei-chen, expressed her intention to continue assisting NCCU with deepening its ties in France.
From Gothenburg, Sweden, to Paris, France, NCCU actively expands its ties to higher education in Europe. In the future, NCCU hopes to continue to join hands with Europe’s leading institutions to create lasting continuous ties in academic research, talent cultivation, and sustainability research. Unfolding before one’s eyes is Taiwan’s strength and resilience in higher education on the international stage.