President of Campus Condorcet Visits NCKU to Discuss Academic Freedom and Collaborative Initiatives
Written by NCKU Office of Internation Affairs. Image credit to NCKU News Center.
National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) welcomed President Pierre-Paul Zalio and Professor Pascale Laborier, Condorcet Paris-Aubervilliers Campus (Campus Condorcet) on September 1. The delegation was warmly received by Chair Prof. Yung-Chun Lee, Executive Vice President, NCKU, together with Vice President for International Affairs Professor Sun-Yuan Hsieh and representatives from the Office of International Affairs. Discussions focused on academic freedom and democracy, the development of university campuses, humanities and social sciences research activities, student exchange opportunities, and potential library collaboration.
Executive Vice President Lee expressed his appreciation for President Zalio’s visit and praised Campus Condorcet’s outstanding achievements in the humanities and social sciences. He emphasized that academic freedom and democracy form the foundation of knowledge advancement and commended the UXIL initiative for its commitment to supporting and integrating persecuted international scholars. Executive Vice President Lee also highlighted the potential for collaboration between the two institutions in the fields of humanities and social sciences, as well as in library collections and knowledge sharing.
NCKU warmly welcomed President Pierre-Paul Zalio of Campus Condorcet
President Zalio explained that Campus Condorcet was established in 2009 as a national project by the French government to create a campus transpériphérique that enhances the research impact of French universities. Campus Condorcet comprises 11 leading higher education institutions in the humanities and social sciences, including the French National Centre for Scientific Research (Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS). The campus hosts 116 research centers and organizes more than 900 scientific events annually. Since 2024, it has launched the Mission Université en Exil-UXIL initiative to provide academic opportunities for persecuted scholars from countries such as Afghanistan and Sudan, enabling them to continue scholarly exchange and free research.
NCKU Vice President for International Affairs, Chair Professor Sun-Yuan Hsieh, introduced NCKU’s strategic role in southern Taiwan as a hub for medical alliances and research networks. He expressed the university’s hope to encourage students and scholars to engage in academic activities at Campus Condorcet, participate in humanities and social science research, and strengthen ties through library collaborations and exhibitions.
Dialogue focuses on democracy, humanities and social sciences, student exchanges, and library cooperation
The NCKU representatives at the meeting included Chair Prof. Yung-Chun Lee, Executive Vice President; Chair Prof. Sun-Yuan Hsieh, Vice President for International Affairs; Prof. Tsung-Lin Liu, Director of the Division of International Relations; Ms. Ya-Tsui Ellen Hsueh, Deputy Director; and Ms. Anna Wu, Manager of International Relations Division.
The establishment of Campus Condorcet was initiated by the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) and the École pratique des hautes études (EPHE) in Aubervilliers, a northern suburb of Paris. Designed to address the 21st century’s needs in education, science, and digitalization, Campus Condorcet has since grown into Europe’s largest research hub dedicated to the humanities and social sciences. Since June 2022, the position of President of Campus Condorcet has been held by Professor Pierre-Paul Zalio.
Provider:
NCKU News Center
Date:
2025-09-05
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