In July 2024, the Faculty of Geosciences, Geotechnics and Mining (3) at TU Bergakademie Freiberg (TUBAF) and the College of Engineering at National Taiwan University (NTU) signed a new exchange agreement. Student Jona Wabner is now the first to take advantage of the new opportunities for a stay abroad in Taiwan. The agreement is the result of an initiative by the geotechnical engineering departments of both universities (Professor Louis Ge (NTU) and Professor Thomas Nagel (TUBAF)).
Jona Wabner is studying geotechnical engineering in her 5th semester and began her exchange semester at NTU in Taipei in March. Her desire to initiate an exchange was decisive for the cooperation, from which up to four students from Faculty 3 per year will be able to benefit in future. Thanks to the agreement, they will be exempt from the tuition fees in Taiwan. The student is particularly looking forward to the courses "Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering" and "Geotechnical Reliability Analysis and Reliability-based Design", two subject areas in which geotechnical engineering is particularly well recognised at NTU.
With around 31,000 enrolled students, NTU is the largest and most research-intensive university in Taiwan and offers a broad spectrum of research and teaching specialisms. "Topics such as uncertainties in geotechnical engineering and probabilistic design, soil liquefaction, earthquake-resistant construction and soil-structure interactions are particularly exciting for the geosciences. Geodesy, remote sensing and geomatics also open up a wide range of study and research perspectives for mine surveying. In addition, there are interesting opportunities for all engineering disciplines to gain academic and cultural experience in a highly innovative environment in East Asia," says Professor Thomas Nagel.
Further collaborations with universities in Taiwan
In addition to NTU, there is an exchange programme with the National Chung Hsing University Taiwan and the TU Bergakademie Freiberg. Up to three students a year have taken advantage of this opportunity so far. The agreement with National Chung Hsing University Taiwan has been in place since 2013 and is valid until 2029.