On Thursday, 7 April 2022, previous participants of the AUA Scholars Award Program were invited to discuss their experiences and thoughts at the AUA Scholars International Roundtable 2022 (AUASIR 2022), an extension of the AUA 5-Year Anniversary Celebration. The sharing session was themed Beyond and Forward: Strengthening Academic Communities Towards a Shared Future for All, moderated by Ms. Zoon Ahmed, a researcher at Tsinghua University. Over 20 scholars across Asia, as representatives of the 268 participants of the AUA Scholars Award Program, attended the roundtable.
AUA Secretary Dr. ZHANG Chuanjie delivered the opening speech, warmly welcoming scholars. The session provided a wonderful opportunity for friends old and new to gather and reunite. It served as a review of the fruitful results of academic exchanges in the past 5 years and envisaged the future of AUA, consolidating experiences and suggestions from scholars.
The AUA Scholars Award Program, initiated in 2018, is one of the flagship programs of AUA. The program enables scholars to conduct two-week academic exchanges and visits among member universities in Asia. Dr. ZHANG Qiu, Deputy Director of Tsinghua University Library, was invited to share her research on the impact and influence of the AUA Scholars Award Program on collaborative research output and inter-university cooperation. The results showed that collaborative papers among AUA members has grown since its establishment in 2017, especially in the fields of clinical medicine, engineering, material science and environment. In addition, the citation influence of collaborative papers is significantly higher than average influence of papers from each university.
During the roundtable session, many scholars felt positive about their experience, ranging from the organization of the program, to the hospitality of their host university, to the interpersonal connections. They were able to establish lasting connections, allowing them to conduct and publish collaborative research, present their work to likeminded individuals, and make additional connections as a subsequent result. Tewin Tencomnao, Assistant Professor of Neurology and Chronic Diseases, Chulalongkorn University, visited Seoul National University in 2019 through the AUA Scholars Award Program. He shared his experiences of conducting a national research project in collaboration with Seoul National University (SNU). The connection continues to develop since then, as he has sent 6 students to SNU for research and hosted a professor from SNU as well. Tencomnao said, the collaboration and progress were made possible thanks to the AUA Scholars Award Program and he appreciated the support from AUA and its secretariat.
Jun Li, Professor of Chemistry at Tsinghua University, has hosted the visiting professor Ning Yan from the National University Singapore in 2019. They were able to publish a number of papers together, which could not have been accomplished without this collaboration. At the roundtable, Li said that the AUA Scholars Award Program provided a wonderful platform for collaboration among scholars from different countries and disciplines in Asia. Jaime Jayapalan from Universiti Malaya enthusiastically shared her experiences, which broadened her horizons, allowed her to establish new contacts and effectively developed many plans for future collaborations during her visit.
COVID-19 has hindered some scholars from fulfilling their trip, but they remain optimistic that new connections can be made this year. On top of establishing person-to-person connections, participants also provided suggestions to widen and improve the network of AUA Scholars, before and after the program.
Scholars expressed interest and supported the idea of establishing a website or platform, where participants can learn about other scholars’ research background, projects and interests and collaborate accordingly. Even after the trip concludes, communication can continue on the virtual platform, and scholars can promote future collaborative research projects and provide insight to future AUA Scholars. Scholars also suggested hosting mini online/offline symposiums, where audience members could be invited to see scholars present the work they have done as a direct result of the program.
The thoughts and ideas shared between scholars reflects the enthusiasm and interest towards creating a stronger interconnected Asian community. As AUA continues to be the catalyst for regional partnerships and collaborations, the future of the AUA Scholars Award Program will continue to shine.
Writers: Camilla Kong, ZHANG Xi
