The Asia Pacific Association for International Education (APAIE) conference was held from 13 to 18 March 2023 for the first time in four years and was the first opportunity for many to meet colleagues from their partner universities in person.
With a record number of 2,400 participants and exhibitors, mainly from Asia, North and South America as well as Europe, the Queen Sirikit Convention Center offered a suitable space for workshops, poster sessions and the long-awaited chance for all participants to meet in person and exchange ideas at the stands – such as with Aschaffenburg University of Applied Sciences at the joint stand of the Bavarian universities. The conference kicked off with a meeting of the DAAD Information Office (IC) in Bangkok at the premises of the Goethe-Institut with information on current bilateral university relations.
Anything but a matter of course: Exchanging experiences in person and exploring new opportunities for cooperation together
"In addition to the exchange on our contributions to innovative forms and formats of international cooperation models, we are very happy and grateful to be able to meet colleagues from our partner universities in person again after all these years to sound out joint future perspectives and cooperation projects," says Prof. Dr. Alexandra Angress, International Officer for the Faculty of Business and Law.
Discussions during a visit to the Rangsit Campus of Bangkok University (BU) rounded off the stay in Bangkok. Professor Angress initiated the university partnership several years ago as part of her involvement in the Asia-Europe Education (AEO) process. "Thanks to a semester abroad at BU, our students are also given the opportunity to get to know our world from the perspective of an ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) country," says Alexandra Angress.
UAS students who do not want to study or spend a semester abroad, or who would like to prepare for this, can also gain international experience at home on campus with so-called COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) projects. Testing intercultural skills in an international online environment is also the ideal way to prepare for professional activity in an international environment. To this end, UAS AB will again participate in a COIL with the University of Malaya in the summer semester of 2023 and is a partner in the COIL "E-Explore the Globe" of Coventry University, UK.
As part of the university partnership with BU, Dr Penjura Kathawongs, Lecturer and Researcher at the Business School, will come to Aschaffenburg in early June. The programme includes a workshop on "Doing business with Thailand" and an information session for UAS students who are interested in spending a semester at BU.