The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and Technical University of Denmark (DTU) signed agreements on Monday to establish cyber dual degree programs.

The two research-oriented universities have pushed cooperation and exchanges through cyber learning tools.

Under the two memorandums of understanding signed by their presidents, the undergraduate dual degree programs will apply to DTU’s digital media engineering courses and KAIST’s web science and technology course as early as next year. They also agree to expand system to mathematics later.

Students will be allowed to use online resources to learn through group discussions and interactive learning via the Internet.

“DTU and KAIST both have a keen interest in developing e-learning and feel that the two global research universities would work well together on many different levels,” Anders Bjarklev, DTU president, told The Korea Herald.

Located just north of Copenhagen, DTU is among Europe’s leading engineering institutions.

“The positive results from KAIST’s trial run of Education 3.0 introduced this type of education we could have, and we’d like to be part of developing this potential in collaboration with KAIST,” he added.

Suh Nam-pyo, the president of KAIST, believes the agreement will strengthen ties between the two schools and provide “feasible alternative” learning methods for higher education institutions worldwide in this era of sweeping globalization and technological advancement.

“The interest and involvement of other universities will serve to promote collaboration among institutions around the world,” Suh added.

The announcement came on the eve of a large gathering of presidents of research universities in Seoul. KAIST is hosting the International Presidential Forum on Global Research Universities, inviting over 80 participants from 27 countries.

By Oh Kyu-wook (596story@heraldcorp.com)