Hallym University Hangang Sacred Heart Hospital

Dr Yong-Sun Kim of Hallym University, South Korea, and Professor Alessandro Martin of University of Padova, Italy, work together on this joint article to share their views on important aspects of academic collaboration between Asian and European higher education institutions. Both institutions are partners in a recent agreement.

Why do your two universities have an interest in developing collaborative academic programmes with institutions in countries that are so distant both geographically and culturally?

Martin: There are certainly several reasons. One that was true in the past was a certain degree of curiosity, a fascination for some, for countries that are far away and mysterious, so different from us and which also have a long history. It is puzzling for us that up to a certain time, in East Asia (in China, in particular) there was also a clear scientific superiority, as was shown by the studies of Joseph Needham, a superiority that then declined but is now on the rise again. Of course, what predominates now is the growing interest in countries that shown an astonishing growth rate and therefore a perspective of an interesting economic position, where there are not all the difficulties limiting us Europeans, and where one can see the opportunity to do things that are more and more difficult in our place.

In other words, in the West there may be an increasing wish to start collaboration with East Asian institutions because they are richer or have a perspective of becoming richer, so that Western institutions may benefit from this by sharing costs, for example. However, for my institution, the University of Padova, there is a further factor that may indeed be the most important, and this is our interest in joining forces with institutions that are “younger” than ours, and which may have new, open-minded approaches to problems, where we can both benefit from the exchanges of our different histories, cultures and identifies. We also feel that old European institutions like ours may still provide some unique educational and research opportunities, but of course this is a sort of “sophistication” that is difficult to measure or to give a value to, but we feel that it is there. We certainly have a different lifestyle, which can be interesting to experience, perhaps only for a limited period, for a student or a teacher who was educated in East Asia.

Kim: First, contrary to geographical gap or common ideas, Italians and Koreans have some similar disposition in many ways; for example, having high competitive spirit, enthusiastic and having much pride in their ethnicity, long history and superb cultural tradition. These characters basically offered a proper background for the best possible partnership between the University of Padova, a leading university in Italy, and Hallym University, one of the newly emerging Korean universities. Each of them has never been afraid to take on new challenges and is always designing new ways to advance forward. The University of Padova’s abundant wisdom and systematic know-how will be passed on to Hallym University, which lacks experience but has a lot of potential. On the other hand, Hallym University’s novel and creative strategy will act as a powerful stimulus to the University of Padova. Through this win-win approach, the two universities can be expected to carry out exceptional collaboration in academic fields that have shown constant and brilliant progress.

Especially in Korea, there have been practical government policies to encourage and support international exchanges between Korea and European countries, in line with the trend of globalization. These efforts actually expand the boundary of international exchange programmes of Korea, which had focused mainly on US or Asian projects in the past.

What are the problems or difficulties that you have faced so far or are expecting, in developing such collaboration?

Kim: There has been a perfect agreement between the University of Padova and our university in sustaining a favorable relationship and in enlarging the scope and scale of the exchange programme. Every big or small project requires budgetary backup and, needless to say, this is also required when promoting our exchange programme. But we could be cautiously optimistic that both universities have been positive and proactive in pushing forward the programme since we signed the MOU, and we have been constantly sharing opinions and discussing valuable policies with each other. Considering the intention of our two universities, securing the budget would continue for developing a variety of exchange projects.

Budgetary issues can also be solved by the Korean National Research Fund, which has been committed and set up by the Korean government for the purpose of promoting joint projects with educational institutions in Europe. This will not only strengthen the desire for top-notch education and in-depth study, but will also upgrade the quality of research and training.

Martin: I should like to answer this question in general terms, because as far as the affiliation agreement between the University of Padova and Hallym University is concerned, we have not encountered any problem so far. When I think of relationships and collaboration with other East Asian institutions, I must say that the main problem was and still is insufficient knowledge the two partners have of each other. When one deals with other European colleagues, one may assume (even here not always safely) that the understanding of issues is clear and expectations are similar. However, when we deal with some Asian colleagues, we find it difficult at times to assess whether a positive affirmation is a matter of courtesy or is a real agreement, whether expectations are clear or somewhat not binding, or whether in discussions there may be a hidden agenda that we fail to understand. Very often, a relationship based mainly in letters suffers from disappointment later on. This is why I think that it is of the utmost importance to try to know and understand the partner well, so that it is clear what have been agreed or not, and what is the real agenda for the relationship. It is also important to establish a good relationship on a personal basis, as this takes, a conscious effort on both sides and of course some luck. I must also say that, perhaps because of our similar attitude, our contact and agreement with our Korean colleagues were easy and had progressed smoothly.

Form your experience, what is the advice you think would be most useful in planning a collaboration of this kind?

Kim: The collaborative work between our two universities was successfully launched in October 2010 as a joint academic symposium in Hallym University, thus marking the conclusion of our MOU. The main topic of the first meeting was about Neuroscience, and both sides plan to organize joint symposia annually in either Italy or Korea, each on a different topic of current interest. There will also be collaborations among research laboratories of the two universities, which will jointly publish outstanding research papers in various international journals. Discussions on co-publishing projects are taking place among the scholars in the two universities. Exchange of students, researchers and faculty members is also a prospective scheme as well. One of the young faculty at our Department of Neurology plans to visit the University of Padova in March 2011 and review the methodology of MR data acquisition currently used in Multiple Sclerosis Centre of the Veneto Region.

In our effort to offer international experience and wide exposure to top students, four to eight weeks of exchange elective course will be offered to fourth-year medical students of both universities. For PhD student, three-month, six-month or one-year exchange programme will be provided so that their doctoral theses could be supervised by two co-advisors from both universities, and these links will lead to continual co-authorship of international papers. Furthermore, specialized branch centres managed by the two universities would hopefully be established at both campuses in the near future. They will play an important role as the strategic base for constant co-research. By continuing to explore various possibilities, our Padova-Hallym partnership is expected to make remarkable progress, and our strong friendship will last for a long time to come.

Martin: I can answer along the lines of Dr Kim’s reply; since our agreement was based on what I had thought was a good way to proceed. I would like to summarize what I consider to be important in collaborating with an East Asian institution as follows:

1. Try to know your partner as well as possible before signing anything –promote contracts, site visits, “study” your prospective partner from what is on his website and in scientific publications, and consult those who may have the information. Similarly, be open and make it easy for your partner to know you. If at all possible, try to establish a friendly relationship.

2. Try and define the objectives and expected outcomes for the collaboration – fields, funding, timing, etc. – so that the agreement is not generic, but focused on specified actions. If the purpose of the agreement is not clear, sooner or later different interpretations will emerge.

3. Make sure that the agreement is not imbalanced, neither in your favor nor in your partner’s, of course, so that you work in a “win-win” situation. If not, it is very difficult to see a long-term future for the programme.

4. Do not consider the agreement finished and complete when it is signed, as it is only the beginning. It will be useful to define the means of assessing the results, discuss them regularly with the partner, and take care of the “maintenance" of the agreement.

Dr. Yong-Sun Kim graduated from Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine in 1978, and specialized in Preventive Medicine at Graduate School of Chung-Ang University, Korea in 1982. He obtained his PhD in Pathology at State University of New York, USA in 1989. He was a research scientist at the Dept of Experimental Neuropathology & Neurobiology (1982-1985) and the Dept of Virology (1985-1990), New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities. A Professor of the College of Medicine, Hallym University since 1990, Dr. Kim has served as Director of Ilsong Institute of Life Science since 1994, and as Dean of the College of Medicine (2004-2008). He is now Executive Vice President for Health & Biomedical Sciences of Hallym University, responsible for international affairs and exchange projects.

Professor Alessandro Martin is Pro-Rector of the University of Padova, responsible for international relations, and Dean of Undergraduate Program for Health Educators. He is professor of Medical Sciences and a clinical gastroenterologist. He was trained in Padova, Verona and Manchester, UK, with further study in the US, France and Israel. His research interests include the role of prostanoids in digestive diseases, inflammatory bowel disease, chronic liver disease and medical education. He has served in the Steering Committee of the Italian Society of Gastroenterology, and as Chairman of the European Union of Medical Specialists-Gastroenterology and Chairman of the Education Committee of the World Organization of Gastroenterology. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, London.