Three countries, nine universities and two institutions – in late March, 2025, Goethe University President Prof. Enrico Schleiff traveled to Asia to meet with old partners, connect with new ones and explore how to deepen ties to Goethe University Frankfurt, the wider Rhine-Main region, Germany and Europe. The Rhine-Main Universities (RMU) alliance and the expansion of the EU’s Horizon Europe funding program also featured prominently in the discussions, for which Global Office Manager Dr. Johannes Müller joined President Schleiff in Korea and Japan. What lay behind the visit, and which stops did it include?
Three main goals framed the 10-day trip: To strengthen existing partnerships, to establish new ones, and to explore new possibilities within Horizon Europe. “In addition to signing into force several important agreements that either deepen existing ties or establish entirely new ones, the meetings on the different campuses, the conversations with scholars and students, and the facility and lab tours showed endless potential for shared interests and opportunities,” says Goethe University President Prof. Enrico Schleiff. “I am pleased that our visit has set the framework for many more scholars and students to benefit from these opportunities for exchange, and am curious and excited about the knowledge they and we will generate together in the future.”
Dr. Johannes Müller, Head of Goethe University’s Global Office, added: “Beyond excellent research, these partners also share our foundational commitment to openness, academic freedom, and democratic governance – values that ensure long-term trust and integrity in our collaborations.” With regard to Korea’s joining the Horizon Europe funding program on January 1, 2025, and in view of the ongoing discussions about deepening ties between the EU and Japan, Müller added: “This shift opens the door for deeper, more structured cooperation between European and Korean – and in perspective also Japanese – institutions. It allows us to move beyond ad hoc projects and toward larger, more ambitious consortia with shared funding mechanisms.”
In addition to exploring options of institutionalizing existing and new partnerships at the bilateral and the European level, the RMU alliance also offers potential for collaboration, which would benefit not just the RMU partners – Goethe University, TU Darmstadt and JGU Mainz – but also prospectively scholars and students from the three Asian countries wishing to pursue their studies and research in Germany.
First Stop: Taiwan
The first university President Schleiff visited was long-term partner National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU), with which Goethe University signed a comprehensive agreement in July 2023. The discussions with NTNU President Prof. Cheng-Chih-Wu, Executive Vice President Prof. Frank Yung-Hsiang Ying and Vice President International Affairs Prof. Yi-De Liu focused on strengthening the existing cooperation, exploring further research fields for cooperation and expanding cultural exchange. “Given that NTNU also has bilateral partnerships with fellow RMU alliance members TU Darmstadt and JGU Mainz, we also explored ways of leveraging these common connections,” Schleiff says. The ties between the two universities are rooted in a successful seven-year cooperation between NTNU and Goethe University’s Faculty of Linguistics, Cultures and Arts, which was later expanded into an official partnership, including agreements to strengthen cooperation in areas like astrophysics, intelligent computing, sinology and environmental humanities, and to promote researcher exchanges. More than 60 students have participated in exchange programs since the two universities first began working together.
The visit to Taiwan comes almost one year after President Schleiff’s first visit to NTNU in March 2024, which was followed up in June last year by a visit from NTNU Vice President Frank Yung-Hsiang Ying to Goethe University. „In addition, NTNU has a similar complementary alliance with the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology and the National Taiwan University as we have at RMU, and here we can learn from each other in the future. The two other universities have very much welcomed this idea,“ Schleiff continued. „Furthermore, as an international guest, I had the honour of opening the Dreaming The Future – Sports Show 2025, a great event of NTNU campus culture, together with the President of NTNU and representatives from NTU and NTU-ST.“
Students interested in Goethe University’s other university partners in Taiwan and China can find more information here.
Second Stop: Republic of Korea
Four days later and some 1.500 km further north, Schleiff and Müller met with Prof. Sang-Gue Park and Dr. Su-han Woo, President and Vice President International Affairs respectively, of Chung-Ang University. Established in 1916 as a private institution, Chung-Ang University is considered to be a national leader in the fields of pharmacy, culture and art education. Its 30,000 students are spread across campuses in Seoul and Anseong, and the university has been an official Goethe University partner since 2009. A flourishing student exchange already exists between the two institutions, and Schleiff and Müller used the occasion to introduce the Goethe Research Experience Program, which is open for any interested Chung-Ang students. The agenda also included discissions on ways of promoting joint research as well as possible collaborations in medicine and the humanities.
The next stop on the Korea leg of the journey was with Seoul National University (SNU), which has been a long-term partner of Goethe University’s Interdisciplinary Centre for East Asian Studies (IZO). One of South Korea’s strongest research universities, SNU’s roots go back to the late 1900s and Emperor Gojong’s decrees to establish a modern higher education system. In 1946, it became the first comprehensive university of the newly independent Korea. The talks with Prof. Ju Han Kim, Executive Vice President Research Affairs, and Prof. Jae W. Lee, Vice President International Affairs, centered on expanding the existing cooperation between faculties and researchers into a larger inter-university partnership, including student exchanges, research cooperation both within and beyond the opportunities offered as part of Horizon Europe, as well as possible future RMU components.
Schleiff and Müller visited two more universities while in Korea. Founded in 1949, the private Kyung-Hee University became an official Goethe University partner in September last year, with the signing of an agreement to cooperate in education and research. Due to scheduling conflicts and the extraordinary political situation in Korea at the end of 2024, previous attempts to bring the two university managements together had failed. “Although this was our first face-to-face meeting with President Prof. Jinsang Kim, Prof. Jong-Bok Kim, Provost External Affairs, and Prof. Young-Jun Choi, Dean of International Affairs, the spirit of partnership was palpable, and we quickly found ourselves thinking about how we can make this cooperation even better, including by means of joint research,” says Müller, adding that green computing and quantum science were among the fields discussed. The meeting was also widely publicized in Korean media, which quoted President Schleiff: “The exchange between the two universities has not been going on for very long, but time is not important. Just as a tree blooms and bears fruit, I believe that the cooperative relationship between the two universities will continue to grow.“ President Kim added: “We will actively support the strengthening of global capabilities by opening a new chapter in cultural exchange as well as education and research.” Prior to signing the official agreement, the Kyung-Hee University had been operating an online training program with Goethe University’s Faculty of Geosciences and Geography.
The next in the country was a return visit to University of Seoul (UOS), which had sent a high-ranking delegation to Frankfurt in September 2024. „Like us, University of Seoul has close ties to civil society, and we were very interested in hearing from UOS President Dr. Yongkul Won and Dr. Minchan Pyo, Vice President International, about the links between the university and the city,“ says Müller. UOS was founded in 1918 as a public agricultural college, and today is an integral part of the Korean capital’s urban fabric. With some 11,000 students it is a smaller institution, but known for its highly international student body and an openness to exchange – which is why the option of setting up a student exchange constituted part of the discussions. Following the meeting, UOS President Won expressed the hope that “the two universities will continue a practical and sustainable partnership for nurturing talent and advancing academic development based on common values.”
While in South Korea, the Goethe University representatives took the opportunity to meet with Korea Foundation (KF), the country’s most important institution fostering cultural and scientific exchange. The strategic talks with KF President Gheewhan Kim centered on strengthening the Foundation’s support for Goethe University’s Korean Studies. KF’s funding has been instrumental in turning this rare discipline into a true academic beacon (to find out more about Korean Studies at Goethe University, see here). “One of the topics we discussed in this regard is the option of setting up a Master’s program, and I’m happy to report that we made good progress,” says Schleiff.
Students interested in Goethe University’s other university partners in Korea can find more information here.
Third Stop: Japan
In Japan, Schleiff and Müller’s program was as busy as in Korea, and also included visits to four universities and one institution. The first item on the agenda was a meeting with representatives of the German Centre for Research and Innovation Tokyo (DWIH Tokyo). Established in 2010, DWIH is a platform for German universities, research institutions and research-based companies in Japan that represents and promotes Germany as a location for science, research and innovation. It is supported by the German Federal Foreign Office and has been coordinated by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) since 2017. “As a strong research university, we are very interested in supporting the DWIH, and the information we received from Axel Karpenstein, who heads the Tokyo office, was invaluable to take our considerations to the next level,” says Schleiff. For Karpenstein, the exchange proved just as worthwhile, considering that DWIH relies on the support of its research partners in Germany to facilitate and shape its work in Tokyo. “It was a fantastic opportunity to hear about their ambitious plans for future scientific cooperation, and discuss current trends in Japanese academic exchange and scientific collaboration.”
The first of the four Japanese universities visited by Schleiff and Müller was Waseda University. Since its foundation in 1882, Waseda University has made it its mission to preserve the independence of scholarship, promote the practical application of scholarship and foster good citizens. Another field for future cooperation is data science. The talks with Vice President International Affairs Prof. Masahiko Gemma also touched on potential cooperation within the RMU and the Horizon Europe frameworks. “Here, too, we are interested in taking the excellent cooperation that already exists at faculty level and expanding it into a university partnership,” says Schleiff, referring to the existing exchange with Goethe University’s Faculty of Economics and Business.
Founded in 1883 as a German Association School, Dokkyo University is a prime example for a successful international research approach that has been working for more than 140 years. After its establishment, it was this School that brought a lot of German culture and knowledge to the Japan of the early 20th century, shaping the country’s bureaucracy, including its legal, academic and health system. “It was fascinating to talk to Dokkyo University President Prof. Hiroko Maezawa about the differences and similarities between German and Japanese research and teaching norms – a field where we see a lot of potential for future cooperation,” says Schleiff. The privately owned Dokkyo University is Japan’s leading institution for the pursuit of German Studies, and also offers an entirely German-language based “Deutschland-Studium”. The two universities signed a student exchange agreement in october 2024, with the first exchanges set to take place in this 2025/26 academic year.
Another new Goethe University partner is Sophia University, where Schleiff and Müller met with newly appointed President Prof. Miki Sugimura, as well as Vice Presidents Research Prof. Masayuki Akahori and Prof. Takashi Okada, and Prof. Goro Christoph Kimura, Dean of Foreign Studies. The two universities signed a comprehensive partnership in december last year – paving the way for the first student exchange in the 2025/26 academic year. Sophia University is Japan’s oldest Jesuit university, founded in 1913. Today it is a comprehensive private university with more than 12,000 students, about 9% of them foreign nationals – which helps explain why the inter-university talks focused on the European research landscape and funding opportunities, also with a view to Japan’s prospective joining of Horizon Europe.
The last stop on the busy agenda of the Goethe University executives was Hitotsubashi University, one of Japan’s oldest institutions of higher learning with a reputation for economics. Founded in 1875 as Japan’s first business school, its focus gradually widened over the years and today belongs to Japan’s designated national universities. Students from both universities now have a chance to participate in a mutual student exchange – the relevant agreement was signed on 4 April 2025. As with Sophia University, the main goal of Schleiff and Müller’s visit was to get better acquainted with Hitotsubashi University’s research profile and learn more about its international research target from President Prof. Satoshi Nakano and Vice President International Prof. Albertus Jirô Rei Yashiki.
Students interested in Goethe University’s other university partners in Japan can find more information here.
After returning home and adjusting to European time and the European schedule, Schleiff and Müller now had a few days to reflect on their trip. Looking back on an eventful week with many discussions, Prof Schleiff said: „I am delighted that our visit has created the framework for many more academics and students to benefit from the exchange opportunities. I am curious and excited about future collaboration.“
