International Study and Training Partnership with the National Taipei University of Technology (Taiwan)

The aim of the DAAD ISAP programme is to establish lasting cooperation between foreign and German higher education institutions through two-way student and lecturer exchanges. ISAPs are intended to contribute to the internationalisation of the participating higher education institutions through institutional cooperation structures, e.g. by agreeing on credit transfer rules, joint curriculum development or the preparation of double degrees.

Since 2018, the DAAD has been funding the study and training partnership between the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam (Department of Design) and the National Taipei University of Technology NTUT (College of Design). Until 2022, the DAAD will fund six 4-month full scholarships per year for the stay of Bachelor and Master students at NTUT. In addition, funds are available for the stay of lecturers from both universities – e.g. for compact teaching formats such as summer schools.

As a high-tech country, Taiwan stands alongside South Korea, Singapore, Japan and the People's Republic of China as an example of a society that is largely open to the digital transformation. Numerous product and service innovations have already been successfully realised in Taiwan, e.g. in the areas of "Smart City", "e-Mobility", "Ambient Assisted Living", "e-Health" or "e-Security". At the same time, a stay in Taiwan allows the potentials of these developments (e.g. in the context of privacy), which are sometimes critically discussed from a European perspective, to be observed up close.

For students of Potsdam's design degree programmes, the exchange offers, in addition to the acquisition of general intercultural skills, access to future technologies as well as diverse experiences of their application in everyday life. In the same way, students from Taiwan benefit from the practical relevance and transdisciplinarity of Potsdam's design degree programmes, which give them a comprehensive insight into the socio-economic framework conditions, opportunities and conflicts of design issues and solutions in Germany and Europe.