Chulalongkorn University Encourages Research University That Teaches: Bringing Research to Society

Prof. Dr. Chakkaphan Sutthirat, Vice President for Research Affairs, Chulalongkorn University, clarifies that the Research University That Teaches policy was born out of Chulalongkorn University’s objective to incorporate research and innovation into the pedagogy in order to create Future Leaders, generate Impactful Research and Innovation, and support Sustainability. Hence, the knowledge from impactful research and innovation will be part of the teaching in the degree programs, non-degree programs, and lifelong learning courses.

The Research University That Teaches policy aims to promote the use of research in creating new knowledge that responds to the needs of society and the nation, as well as global challenges. In addition, Chulalongkorn’s research needs to promptly reach the society and develop people on a wider scale, under the collaboration between the three pillars of Chulalongkorn: Research, Innovation and Academics. The target group that will benefit from this policy, apart from Chulalongkorn students, includes the general public who can pursue their lifelong learning at Chulalongkorn University.

According to Prof. Dr. Chakkaphan, the Research University That Teaches will play a part in transforming teaching and learning today. As an example, the Chula ARI Project or Chulalongkorn University Platform for Aging Research Innovation is able to meet the needs of the aging society with integrated interdisciplinary skills and receives support from the government and other sectors, expanding into the Thai ARI project (Thai Platform for Aging Research Innovation). The project not only involves the Faculty of Medicine or faculties in health sciences, but also the Faculty of Engineering, which contributes in terms of robots that can be used for remote health care, and the Faculty of Architecture, which assists in the design of homes and environment to facilitate the daily life of the elderly. The College of Population Studies was the main coordinator to ensure a learning process among faculty members, researchers, students and project participants, leading to the development of innovation that will make life easier and better, based on research developed by Chulalongkorn University.

Prof. Dr. Chakkaphan added that international networks can promote faster exchange of knowledge. Therefore, collaboration between faculty, researchers, and external agencies at international levels will expand the research network, contributing to a wider impact on society. After implementing the Research University That Teaches policy, faculty members have now started to shift from teaching the basic theories in the classroom to integrating knowledge from research. The research and development of innovation that meet the needs of society allow students to more clearly perceive the learning objectives. Nevertheless, Chulalongkorn University will continue to encourage the development of research and innovation into lessons.

“The university has adapted towards becoming a research university in order to serve the main goal of Chulalongkorn University, which aims for personnel with knowledge to produce research and innovation with high impact, leading to sustainable development of the country. As a result, the university will become more stable, as well as able to produce more future leaders to develop the country. The general public can also benefit from the research from Chulalongkorn University. Right now Chulalongkorn University has opened various platforms to connect with society, e.g., the Social Innovation Hub, which connects researchers with communities to help solve problems. The Chulalongkorn community is invited to join the various platforms created by the university to work towards the same goal,” ended Prof. Dr. Chakkaphan.

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