Industry-Academia Cooperation and Off-campus Internships

MCUT’s Office of Research and Development has established an industry-academia cooperation platform that provides comprehensive services through connection with the relevant business of each department, each research Center, and the Innovation & Incubation Center of MCUT. As for industry-academia cooperation, MCUT has joined hands with partners of the Group to engage in development cooperation on the forward-looking industrial technologies in Taiwan. As for future energy, MCUT cooperates with Formosa Smart Energy for the trial manufacturing of the “Solid-state Lithium-ion Battery” production line, thus preparing for the next-generation batteries used in electric vehicles. In the field of biomedicine, a relevant team from MCUT has signed an MOU with Maxigen Biotech Inc. to develop the new-generation glass-ceramic composite material aggregate. This new material can quickly degrade to promote the inner growth of bones, thus preparing for the super-aged society of Taiwan in the future. Furthermore, MCUT has also cooperated with Formosa Biomedical Technology Corp., Wisechip Semiconductor Inc., and FrontMaterials Co., Ltd. to establish trial and volume production factory bases. Furthermore, the university has joined hands with FrontMaterials Co., Ltd. to establish a co-construction Research Center. In the future, we will seek continual development in fields like intelligent health, the application of display technology, and solar power generation.

Since 2012, MCUT has actively strived to upgrade, transform, and rebuild the Ministry of Economic Affairs' industrial park vendor project and has become a vendor counseling school in the Guishan Industrial Zone to link with surrounding vendors. By integrating the abundant R&D energy of MCUT teachers and students, we aim to satisfy the needs of vendors in the park in terms of product R&D, technological cooperation, process quality control, pollution prevention, operational strategies, and product design, thus making MCUT a preferred partner for corporate collaboration.

Concerning promoting performance in industry-academia cooperation, the amount involved reached NT$194.2 million in 2023, and the number of industry-academia cooperation projects increased from 146 to 215 with a growth rate of 47%. This shows the resources engaged by MCUT in promoting industry-academia cooperation and the benefits derived. In 2023, the number of patent certificates slightly declined. The university will continually encourage teachers to apply their research findings for patents.

Off-campus Internships

MCUT has a unique work-study internship system aimed at developing well-rounded individuals with a strong work ethic, an emphasis on both theory and practice, and a commitment to lifelong learning. The system follows a "Theory-Practice-Theory" approach, providing junior students with a one-year internship at partner companies. This internship not only enhances practical skills but also focuses on building project management, interpersonal, leadership, and teamwork abilities, bridging the gap between learning and real-world application. Upon graduation, students are well-prepared to enter the workforce seamlessly. To support students, we offer pre-internship workplace quality courses, self-paced English learning programs, and distance learning platforms for continuous education. Our faculty evaluates and approves all internship organizations to ensure high quality and only recommends the best options to our students.

MCUT collaborates with vendors to annually recommend students who have performed exceptionally well during their internships. In 2022, a total of 250 students, accounting for 30.3% of the total student body, were recommended. Apart from students recommended by each subsidiary of Formosa Plastics Group, relevant TWSE/TPEx listed companies in industries corresponding to MCUT's departments have also highly praised MCUT's interns. The university has established a comprehensive internship course counseling and assessment system. By implementing work-study internship courses at the Undergraduate School and taking relevant measures, internship counselors regularly visit organizations where students intern to monitor their progress. They also collaborate with internship supervisors to evaluate the impact of the internship on students at each stage. Upon completion of their internships, students return to school and participate in competitions to showcase their achievements. Each teaching unit follows a course learning map centered around practical internships to enhance the impact of internships on students. Guided by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and vocational education policies and guidelines, MCUT promotes off-campus internships and collaborates with enterprises to nurture talent and actively contribute to the sustainable development goal for talent cultivation.

To learn about cooperative internship organizations’ ideas about MCUT students' performance in each aspect during the work-study period, MCUT conducts a satisfaction survey of cooperative internship organizations at the end of each internship every year. In the 2022 academic year, there were 166 cooperative internship organizations. According to the survey results, more than 90% of organizations indicated that the overall performance of MCUT students complied with their corporate needs.

Enterprise-funded Students of Formosa Plastics Group

Since the 2021 academic year, students from relevant departments of MCUT related to the needs of Formosa Plastics Group may apply for the qualification of enterprise-funded students of the Group if their academic performance complies with the selection standards (The average academic score should be 70 points or above; the class ranking shall be within the top 30%. Those ranking 11-30% needed to attach their mentors’ recommendations; the operation score should be 80 points or above). An enterprise-funded student of Formosa Plastics Group can receive a monthly payment of NT$ 36,700, higher than the average internship salary of NT$ 29,000. After the expiry of the internship and the submission of internship reports, interns will receive internship scores and employment verification procedures from the internship departments to assess whether they can be recruited as formal employees. If interns can be recruited as required, they may obtain scholarships for enterprise-funded students of Formosa Plastics Group. Expressly, undergraduates will be provided with a lump-sum payment of NT$ 400,000 for an agreed service term of 4 years, while master graduates will be provided with a lump-sum payment of NT$ 500,000 for an agreed service term of 5 years. Therefore, excellent students who demand employment can take on internships before graduation and get employed after graduation. Students who apply for the “Bachelor-Master Program” may also stay at the research institutes of MCUT and then serve enterprises after graduation. Currently, five interns were recruited as enterprise-funded students of Formosa Plastics Group in the 2021 academic year, while this figure was 3 in the 2022 academic year.

Overseas Internship

In 2006, MCUT started the "Overseas Study for Dream Fulfillment Project" to help students gain international experience through work-study internships. This new initiative for Taiwanese universities provided students with valuable opportunities to intern with overseas companies. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MCUT suspended overseas internships for students in 2020 and 2021 to ensure their safety. In 2022, the university resumed the program and arranged for 14 students to intern at Inteplast Group in Texas, USA.

Internal Exchange and External Participation

On December 1, 2021, MCUT's Board of Directors approved the elevation of the International Affairs Center, originally under the Office of Research and Development, to a level-1 unit known as the Office of International Affairs. Under this new office, the "Division of Global Cooperation and Exchange" and the "Division of Overseas Student Affairs" have been established. These divisions oversee overseas exchange programs, local students' affairs abroad, and international admissions and counseling for overseas students. This restructuring aims to consolidate school resources and leverage our teams' expertise to enhance our internationalization efforts.

The Ministry of Education's New Southbound Policy requires MCUT to prioritize expanding student sources from Southeast Asian countries. MCUT actively participates in international education exhibitions and annual educator meetings to enhance its global presence and establish strong partnerships. In the 2022 academic year, we participated in 2 annual educator meetings and eight physical and online education exhibitions. For more information, please visit the MCUT Corporate Social Responsibility website. In addition to forming partnerships with various schools, we have developed transnational programs by collaborating with high-quality overseas academies. We aim to reduce students' study time through mutual credit recognition and encourage participation in overseas projects. All students selected and sent abroad are rigorously managed by our partner schools, with the goal of fostering stable and high-quality international student sources.

Due to the mitigation of the COVID-19 pandemic since 2022, MCUT has not only actively organized physical and online lectures on further education but also continued handling online lectures on further education and Program explanation sessions during the pandemic. In the 2022 academic year, MCUT held five lectures on further education and five explanation sessions. For more information, please log in to the MCUT Corporate Social Responsibility website. As a result, overseas students may get a deep understanding of Taiwan’s higher education through diversified channels.

Since 2021, MCUT has been participating in international evaluations, such as Time Higher Education World University Rankings, to improve its familiarity and establish its brand image in the international community. We hope that by engaging in benign competition with excellent schools worldwide, we can continually optimize each measure and strengthen our international competitiveness.

In recent years, MCUT has actively developed externally and cooperated with sister schools on student exchange activities in various forms. To encourage students to step out of their comfort zones during their academic period, we established a student overseas exchange and learning project called “MCUT Around the World” in 2017. Relying on a four-part framework, including short-term study tours, attendance at international seminars, exchange learning programs, and dual-degree studies, we encourage students to acquire international experience progressively. By participating in this project, students can gain professional knowledge in the learning fields and experience local cultures, improve their English and other foreign language communication skills, obtain previous international exchange experience, and effectively enhance their global views.

Besides sending excellent students abroad to accumulate international exchange experience, MCUT also provides diversified channels, including transnational programs, exchange learning, and holding of culture camps, and invites overseas students to participate in various activities at MCUT. Through substantial communication, we strive to promote campus internationalization.

External Participation

To improve the quality of higher education and respond to the quick changes in the external environment, MCUT has not only signed memoranda of understanding with enterprises and joined library networks to facilitate inter-library borrowings but also actively participated in external public associations or academic societies. Based on mutually beneficial cooperation, we aim to improve our educational levels, jointly develop vocational education, and cultivate professional technical talents.