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AIT will host the Wetlands Alliance Program secretariat. The decision was made at the meeting of Wetlands Alliance hosted by CORIN at the Prince of Songkla University (PSU) in Had Yai City, Songkla Province, from 28-29 January 2007. Representing AIT at the meeting was Prof. Said Irandoust, AIT President, who also signed a Memorandum of Understanding to enter collaboration with PSU.
There will be the recruitment of WAP secretariat coordinator during 2007. Travel funds are available for faculty and students to engage with local partners in accordance with the WAP work plan
(www.ait.ac.th/scpu/WAP_National_Workplans_draft_Sept_06.pdf).
Funds will also be available for shorter assignments for AIT faculty and staff in relation to WAP activities. These funds will be "seed money" to stimulate long-term collaborations between AIT and WAP partners, as it is indicated that the WAP is a long term commitment from Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) with the potential to continue for many years to come.
AIT also enters into collaboration with PSU after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between AIT and PSU on future collaboration. The MoU signing was attended by Prof. Said Irandoust, AIT President; PSU Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies; Vice President for Outreach and International Affairs; and Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies.
According to the MoU, aside from collaboration with PSU under the WAP umbrella, PSU will pursue the following:
- sending faculty to AIT for their Ph.D. studies as part of their faculty development program in the professional doctorate program (DBA), mechatronics among other areas.
- AIT-PSU research collaboration in issues related to mechatronics, coastal zone management etc. with other areas to be further explored. The possibility of AIT providing seed money from the AIT Royal Thai Government research grant to develop joint proposals to be funded by Thai research agencies will be considered.
- sending students to AIT for one full or half semester duration to undertake English language classes which would also provide them with an opportunity to gain multicultural exposure at AIT. Ideally such a program could be anchored under fields of study that would be interested in hosting such students under the framework of an academic/research collaboration with PSU.
- developing integrated bachelor’s and master’s program in partnership with AIT, also reaching out to Laos and Cambodia, with possible support from the Thailand International Development Cooperation Agency (TICA).
- developing joint AIT-PSU short courses to be held at the PSU campus in Phuket, targeting foreign students, where AIT is also active through various tsunami related projects.