Ms. Weng Chin-Ying, Director of the Education Division of the Taipei Representative Office in Germany(standing, right), with her colleague Ms. Monica Klemm (standing, left) at an orientation meeting for Dr. Frank Heidmann and master’s degree students in the Urban Futures program at Potsdam University of Applied Sciences.

Twenty-three students in the interdisciplinary Master of Urban Futures program at Potsdam University of Applied Sciences will participate in a trip to Taiwan from April 12 to 19 this year to undertake field research on the topic “Smart Cities”.

The purpose of the master’s degree students’ Taiwan research trip is to conduct research to compare smart cities in Europe and Asia, focusing on the interrelationships between the technological, economic, and social aspects of the cities.

Ms. Weng Chin-Ying, Director of the Education Division at Taipei Representative Office in Germany, hosted a pre-departure Q&A session for these young researchers on February 19 in the Taiwan Culture Hall of the Taipei Representative Office. It was designed to provide the young scientists with some basic details and an opportunity to ask questions, in preparation for undertaking their research and surveys in Taiwan.

The Education Division took the opportunity to tell the master’s degree students about interesting possibilities for future study or research in Taiwan, and MOE scholarships such as the Huayu Enrichment Scholarships and Taiwan Scholarships, in case the students become interested in doing further studies in Taiwan after their research visit.

Prof. Dr. Frank Heidmann will be the students’ mentor during the Taiwan research trip. He has wide-ranging expertise. His research and teaching interests in Potsdam lie in Human-Centered Design, research methods in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and user experience design including eye tracking technologies, geographic information visualization, and sustainable interaction design. The research group will also be able to visit and interact with National Taipei University of Technology, a partner university of Potsdam University of Applied Sciences.