Austrian-South-East Asian Academic University Network

ASEA-UNINET
ASEA-UNINET LOGO
Founded in:	1994
Members Countries:	Austria Czech Republic Denmark Germany Greece Indonesia Italy Malaysia Netherlands Pakistan (associate member) Philippines Russia Slovakia Spain Thailand Vietnam
Website:	http://asea-uninet.org

The ASEAN European Academic University Network (ASEA-UNINET) is a network of universities, consisting of European and south-east Asian universities. It was founded in 1994 by universities from Austria, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam with the goal of promoting the continuous internationalisation of education and research. Today ASEA-UNINET consists of more than 70 universities from 16 different countries.^[1]

The Beginnings & Aims

The foundations for this university network were laid by informal contacts between the University of Innsbruck and various Thai Universities, which date back to the late 1970s. Official visits followed and in the 1980s first partnerships between individual universities were concluded. This included partnership agreements between the University of Innsbruck and the Universities Chulalongkorn and Mahidol in Bangkok, as well as between the Universities of Vienna and Chiang Mai, and between the University of Agricultural Sciences in Vienna and the University of Kasetsart in Bangkok. Another partnership agreement was concluded with Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta in 1990. In 1992 the Universities of Innsbruck, Chulalongkorn, Vienna and Chiang Mai signed a joined partnership agreement to include one another in their cooperations. University relations also developed substantially with Vietnam. Furthermore interconnections were established between Austria's partner institutions in Thailand and other countries in the region and thus the idea of ASEA-UNINET was born.^[2][3]

With the aim to unify all these bilateral partnership agreements in one multilateral partnership, the initiator, Prof. B. M. Rode, invited interested universities in Austria, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam to participate in the 1st Plenary Meeting in Ho Chi Minh City in December 1994. During this meeting the infrastructure and organization of the newly founded network, was laid down jointly by the participants and the following aims were agreed upon:

• facilitate and encourage cooperation between academic institutions in the fields of teaching, research, staff and student (e.g. joint research projects, staff and student exchange possibilities, Graduate programmes (mainly Ph.D. studies) and postgraduate education, specialized training courses).^[4]
• promotion of scientific, cultural and human relations and personal contacts.
• promotion and initiation of projects of mutual interest and benefit for faculties, staff and students.
• Support and assist in forming coalitions of resources for academic activities between member institutions.
• facilitate collaboration and cooperation in eductation between universities, governmental and non-governmental organisations and economic operators engaged in projects related to education, science, technology and art in countries with member universities.
• act as a forum of continuous discussions on the progress of these projects, and serving as a network of excellence providing expertise and initiatives for entities seeking European-S.E.Asian relations.

Organization

Each Member University has an ASEA-UNINET Coordinator, each country a National Coordinator and each continent a Regional Coordinator. The Chairman is elected at the General Assembly for approx. a 1 ½ year period.

In order to achieve ASEA UNINET's common goals and objectives financing is sought by all member institutions from university and national government sources. Project contributions are made by the member-universities on the basis of fair balance according to their economic and financial situation. Additional financial support is sought from regional (e.g. EU, ASEAN) as well as international agencies and from the private sector according to available projects.^[5]

Focal Areas

Almost all areas of academic and economic interest are represented within ASEA-UNINET.^[6] The current focus areas of cooperation include:

• Science and Technology
• Economic and Social Sciences
• Health, Pharmacy and Medicine
• Humanities, Culture and Music

Members

In 1994 this network consisted of 25 universities from Austria, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. In the following years, many universities from the following countries have joined the network: Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malaysia, Netherlands, Philippines, Russia, Slovakia, Spain. Pakistan has currently an associated status for specific projects. Since September 2011 ASEA-UNINET consists of more than 70 Universities from 16 different countries.

Countries	Member Universities	Member Since
Austria	University of Innsbruck	1994
	University of Vienna	1994
	University of Graz	1998
	University of Linz	1998
	University of Salzburg	1998
	Vienna University of Technology	1994
	Graz University of Technology	1994
	University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna	1994
	Vienna University of Economics and Business	1994
	University of Leoben	1996
	University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna	1996
	University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna	1997
	University of Music and Dramatic Arts, Mozarteum in Salzburg	1998
	University of Music and Dramatic Arts, Graz	1998
	Medical University of Innsbruck	2004
	Medical University Graz	2004
	Medical University of Vienna	2004
	Danube University Krems
Czech Republic	Technical University of Prague	1997
Denmark	University of Southern Denmark	1997
Germany	University of Freiburg	2002
	University of Passau
Greece	University of Ioannina	1998
Indonesia	Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta	1994
	Institute of Technology, Surabaya	1994
	Diponegoro University, Semarang	1994
	Universitas Indonesia, Jakarta	1996
	Institute of Technology Bandung	1999
	Udayana University, Bali	2008
Italy	University of Trento	1999
	Technical University of Milano	2002
	University of Genoa	2008
	University of Brescia
	University of Verona
Malaysia	Universiti Putra Malaysia	2007
	University of Malaya
	Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka
	Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
	Universiti Utara Malaysia
Netherland	University of Groningen	2002
	University of Utrecht	1998
Pakistan	University of Karachi	2006
Philippines	University of the Philippines, Quezon City	1997
Russia	St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University	2007
Slovakia	Comenius University
Spain	University of Murcia	2005
	University of Barcelona
	University of Oviedo
Thailand	Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok	1994
	Mahidol University, Bangkok	1994
	Kasetsart University, Bangkok	1994
	King Mongkut's Institute of Technology, Ladkrabang	1994
	King Mongkut's University of Technology, North Bangkok	1994
	King Mongkut's University of Technology, Thonburi	1994
	Chiang Mai University	1994
	Khon Kaen University	1994
	Mahasarakham University	2001
	Naresuan University	2002
	Prince-of-Songkla University, Hat Yai	1994
	Suranaree University, Nakon Rachasima	1994
	Silpakorn University, Bangkok	1998
	Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok,	1998
	Thammasat University, Bangkok	2002
	Burapha University	2007
	Ramkhamhaeng University, Bangkok	2008
	Ubon Ratchathani University	2008
Vietnam	Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST), Hanoi	1994
	National Economics University, Hanoi	1994
	University of Transport and Communication, Hanoi	2007
	Vietnam National Academy of Music, Hanoi
	Hanoi University of Agriculture, Hanoi
	Hanoi University, Hanoi
	Hue University, Hue City	2005
	University of Da Nang, Da Nang City	2007
	Vietnam National University - Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City	1994
	University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ho Chi Minh City	1994

External links

• Austrian Foreign Ministry: Bilateral Relations Austria & Thailand Bilaterale Beziehungen mit Thailand, retrieved on May, 23rd 2014.
• ASEA-UNINET Homepage, retrieved on May, 23rd 2014.
• APA - Austrian Press Agency: "Beatrix Karl, Federal Minister of Science and Research meets in Bangkok with Thai Minister of Education and ASEA UNINET coordinators". Vienna February 14, 2011. Retrieved on May, 23rd 2014.
• University of Vienna: International Office:University of Vienna: International Office: ASEA UNINET, retrieved on July, 9th 2014.
• University of Graz: University of Graz: ASEA UNINET, retrieved on July, 9th 2014.
• Asian Studies, retrieved on July, 9th 2014.

References

1. ASEA-UNINET Homepage ASEA-UNINET Homepage, retrieved on October, 23rd 2014.
2. ASEA-UNINET Homepage ASEA-UNINET Homepage, retrieved on October, 23rd 2014.
3. Austrian Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy "Südostasien", retrieved on May, 23rd 2014.
4. Austrian Agency for International Cooperation in Education and Research (OeAD):"Technology Grants South-East Asia", retrieved on July 4th, 2014.
5. ASEA-UNINET Homepage ASEA-UNINET Homepage, retrieved on October, 23rd 2014.
6. ASEA-UNINET Homepage ASEA-UNINET Homepage, retrieved on October, 23rd 2014.