The National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) in Hsinchu, southern Taiwan and Beijing-based Tsinghua University are planning to establish joint laboratories on both campuses to enhance cooperation between them, an NTHU official said Wednesday.

The labs will be funded by both sides, with NTHU contributing NT$20 million ($628,000) and Tsinghua 4 million yuan ($586,000) annually.

NTHU Vice President Yip Ming-chuen said the purpose of the joint labs is to achieve better sharing of resources and provide a platform for strengthening cooperation between the two institutions.

"We hope we can implement the plan as soon as possible because both sides have reached a consensus on it," said Yip.

Under the arrangement, professors from each of the two universities will be allowed to use the lab on the other side and collaborate more closely with each other, he said.

The joint-lab plan was discussed during a visit to NTHU by Tsinghua President Gu Binglin Tuesday.

Officials from the two universities also discussed activities to celebrate the 100th anniversary in 2011 of their common forebear.

NTHU (and Tsinghua) was first established as Tsing Hua Academy in Beijing in 1911 and was renamed National Tsing Hua University in 1928. After the Chinese Civil War, the university's president and some professors moved to Taiwan, where NTHU was reestablished at its current site in Hsinchu in 1956.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 03/18/2010 page4)