Since the year 2003, with the funding from the German Academic Exchange Services (DAAD), a double degree programme in engineering has been implemented between two partners i.e. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE) in Germany. The programme was conceptualised upon recognition of the need for intercontinental academic exchange for engineering students in recent years who will most likely partake in a competitive global economy upon graduation. The partnership between UKM and UDE has since evolved to strong collaboration between research groups of the two universities and also has resulted in numerous academic exchanges (staff). Thus far, however, UKM has had no official office setup in UDE despite the high traffic of academic exchange of students and staff. On the other hand, the Mercator Office in UKM has been running for several years at the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, UKM and has actively offered services to not only a large number of UKM students and staff preparing to travel to UDE but also to UDE staff and students who visited UKM. It is clear that to further strengthen our partnership and make our presence felt in Europe, the setting up of a UKM International office in UDE is a natural step forward.

The UKM International Office at UDE strives to:

•Act as a bridge between UKM and UDE in order to support and boost cooperation (student mobility, academic exchange, research collaboration etc) of both partner universities.

•Excellent base for delivering assistance to potential UDE students coming to Malaysia, and to UKM students who study in UDE as well as offer a Malaysian biosphere on UDE campus.

•Offer UKM higher visibility in world academia particularly in Europe, with more collaboration expected with other universities in terms of research and international higher education.

UKM International Office

Email: io-ude@ukm.edu.my