Over 10 Years of Cooperation between Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany Case Study of the Development of a Fruitful Partnership

Abstract

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and University Duisburg-Essen (UDE) in Germany have a history of cooperation that spans more than 10 years. One major result of this cooperation is the establishment of double degree and exchange programmes in both universities. The key fact is that both partners collaborate on an ‘eye level.’ The basis for this development is the institutionalisation of the partnership by way of the UKM-Mercator Office, an outpost of UDE at UKM established in 2002, as well as the UKM International Office at UDE which opened in 2010. The establishment of these outposts has resulted in high visibility of this partnership, good employability of graduates and execution of research on different levels. These results demonstrate that synergy between teaching and research is in force.