On the morning of November 3, 2022, the University of Danang (UD) hosted an international conference with the theme "Internationalisation in higher education and borderless cooperation between European and Asian universities". The event is a part of the HARMONY Project funded by the European Union (EU) to improve the capacity of the member universities’ network to integrate and internationalise higher education, contribute to realizing the objectives of the Erasmus+ Programme in connecting Asian and European countries. 

Attending the opening session at the UD were the presentation of: Mr. Jesus Lavina-Counselor, Deputy Head of the Cooperation and Development Department of the EU Delegation to Vietnam; Prof. Laurent Serment - Regional Director for Asia-Pacific of the Association of Francophone Universities (AUF); PhD. Rafael de Miguel González - HARMONY Project Coordinator; Assoc. Prof. Dr Nguyen Ngoc Vu - President of the UD; Mr. Huynh Duc Truong- Director of Danang Department of Foreign Affairs; Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Binh - Chairman of Da Nang Union of Friendship Organisations; Assoc. Prof. Dr Le Quang Son – Vice President of the UD.  

Overview of the conference.

Also attending were representatives from universities which are members of HARMONY Project including: University of Zaragoza (Spain); Varna University of Management (Bulgaria); Mykolas Romeris University (Lithuania); European Institute for Policy Research and Development (Slovenia); Daffodil International University, University of Liberal Arts (Bangladesh); Narsee Monjee Institure of Management Studies, University of Hyderabad (India); Vellore Institute of Technology and Quang Binh University (Vietnam); representatives of member universities and affiliated units of the UD.

In the opening speech, Assoc. Prof. Dr Nguyen Ngoc Vu – President of the UD, warmly welcomed and gave special thanks to the distinguished guests, representatives of domestic and international agencies, organizations and partner universities for attending the event at the UD.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Vu introduced the overview and highlights of the UD as a key, multi-disciplinary university of Vietnam with nearly 30 years of establishment and 50 years of development. The UD’s member universities have been training,  providing high quality human resources, making important contributions to the development of education and training, science and technology and socio-economic of the Central and Highlands region as well as the whole country. 

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Vu, President of the UD.

With 6 member universities and 7 affiliated units, with a scale of more than 2,500 staff, lecturers and more than 50,000 students, the UD always attaches great importance to strengthen the cooperation relationships with prestigious agencies, organizations and universities, including more than 40 universities, research institutes across countries that are the EU members. 

This is a key factor that contributes to improving the capacity of integration and internationalisation of higher education of the UD, becoming a resource and motivation for being as one of the three leading prestigious training, scientific research and international cooperation centers of Vietnam, reaching out to the region and the world.  

The UD President hoped that this conference would be an opportunity for organisations, universities, especially partners in the HARMONY project to exchange, share experiences, propose initiatives and solutions to cooperate, promote the process of internationalisation of higher education, integration and connection of Eurasian universities.   

Also at the opening session, delegates heard the virtual presentation of Mr. Jesus Lavina-Counselor, Deputy Head of the Cooperation and Development Department of the EU Delegation to Vietnam; the presentation of Prof. Rafael de Miguel González - HARMONY Project Grant Coordinator, University of Zaragora (Spain) and Prof. Laurent Serment-Regional Director for Asia-Pacific of the the Francophone University Agency (AUF).  

This conference is the first event within the framework of HARMONY Project held at the University of Danang (Vietnam) after a period of being affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. This is a project that is considered as an example of the internationalisation and sustainable development of higher education focusing on training quality. 

On this occasion, the UD signed Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) with the University of Zaragoza (Spain) and Mykolas Romeris University (Lithuania), thereby promoting the strong and comprehensive cooperation in the many fields (training, scientific research, lecturer and students exchange, management, service, coordinated participation in international projects). This result is an outstanding landmark to realize the objectives and orientations of the Eramus+ Program and the HARMONY Project, which clearly demonstrates effectiveness and sustainability.

The UD signed MOU with the University of Zaragoza (Spain).

The UD signed the MOU with Mykolas Romeris University (Lithuania).

The conference took place from 3-4/11 with sessions discussing topics such as: (1) Internationalisation of higher education, experiences from the UD (Vietnam) and the University of Zaragora (Spain); (2) Practical experiences of Mykolas Romeris University (Lithuania); (3) International students exchange (Friends Teahouse) and Digital Storytelling Competition for students; (4) Internationalisation from the practice of Indian, Bangladeshi universities; (5) Management of international cooperation at the UD.

All delegates.