Josef Goldberger serves as the Liaison Officer at the Saxon Science Liaison Office Taiwan, an initiative managed by TU Dresden in collaboration with Saxon universities and research institutions. The office, housed within the German Trade Office Taipei, plays a pivotal role in fostering academic and research exchanges between Saxony and Taiwan. Among its flagship programs is the Semiconductor Talent Incubation Program (STIPT), which offers Saxon students a unique combination of academic study at National Taiwan University and practical training at TSMC, a global semiconductor leader. Additionally, the office actively promotes Saxony as a hub for higher education and research, attracting Taiwanese talent while facilitating cross-border scientific collaborations and exchange opportunities.
- Can you tell us about your role at the Saxon Science Liaison Office Taiwan? How did you start working in this position, and what motivated you to focus on fostering relations between Saxony and Taiwan?
In September 2023, I was commissioned to set up and manage the Saxon Science Liaison Office in Taiwan and serve as the contact person for the Saxon scientific community and prospective students.
The Saxon Science Liaison Office Taiwan represents and promotes scientific exchange as well as the cultural interests of Saxony in Taiwan. It is based in the German Trade Office Taipei. TU Dresden operates this office on behalf of all Saxon universities and Research institutions, and it is therefore also a pilot project for similar offices in other countries. The project is financed by the Free State of Saxony.
Prior to heading the Saxon Science Liaison Office in Taiwan, I was Director of the DAAD (= German Academic Exchange Service) Information Center in Taipei (2017-2023). I also taught at the Department of European Languages and Cultures at National Cheng Chi University.
I have earned my Ph.D. in Comparative and International Education at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin researching the Internationalization of Chinese Higher Education. In Berlin I also worked as Regional Coordinator for Institutional Co-operations (Asia and Australia) at the International Office, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin.
I also lived and worked in the PR China for more than 12 years where I lectured at Tsinghua University, Peking University, Qiqihar University and Renmin University. I headed the marketing team at the Beijing branch-office of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) between 2009 and 2012, and worked as a project-manager for the Goethe-Institut in 2008.
Working for the Free State of Saxony in Taiwan feels like an organic evolvement of my previous professional experience, as I am still working in an academic context and being involved with student and research exchange between Taiwan and Germany/Saxony. In contrast to previous postings my current tasks tend to be more concrete and call for a quick and hands-on realization of co-operational concepts. I especially enjoy the great commitment to my work shown by institutions both in Germany and Taiwan.
- And what about primary objectives and recent achievements of the Saxon Science Liaison Office Taiwan? How has your work facilitated academic and research exchanges between Saxony and Taiwan?
One of the first programs overseen by the office is the Semiconductor Talent Incubation Program Taiwan (STIPT). The program includes a six-month stay abroad for students from Saxony, where they completed an academic program that took place at the National Taiwan University in Taipei in 2024. This was then followed by apractical training in Taichung at TSMC – a global leader in the semiconductor industry.
Interest in participating in the Semiconductor Talent Incubation Program Taiwan in Germany is very high. In addition to their regular studies, prospective students have the opportunity to attend Mandarin training program at their home university or via an online program offered by TUD Dresden in order to prepare for their stay in Taiwan. The 30 participants of the first group of the program arrived in Taiwan before March 1, 2024. In August the participants successfully finished the program and returned to Germany.
In 2025, even more students from ten technology-oriented Universities in the Free State of Saxony are expected to be part of an extended Semiconductor Talent Incubation Program Taiwan. These students will be hosted by National Taiwan University (March-June 2025), National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST, aka Taiwan Tech) as well as National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU) (September to December 2025) and subsequent practical training in Taichung at TSMC.
At the same time, the Saxon Science Liaison Office Taiwan systematically promotes Saxony as an attractive destination for study and research at higher education fairs and other marketing events in order to attract talent from Taiwan to Saxon universities as well as industry and commerce. The office provides study counseling for those interested in academic exchange. The Saxon Science Liaison Office Taiwan promotes scholarships and funding programs that are intended to increase exchange between Saxony and Taiwan and supports research collaborations and scientific delegations.
Since its establishment a series of new co-operational agreements already have been signed between Saxon and Taiwanese universities and approx. 1.500 students from Taiwan have been reached by promotional activities of the Saxon Science Liaison Office. Numerous academic delegations from Saxony have visited Taiwan and vice versa… Researchers from National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University and Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg successfully applied for the prestigous Taiwan-German Collaboration in Research, NSTC-DFG Funding program in 2024.
- In your experience, what are the biggest intercultural challenges when promoting collaboration between Taiwanese and German universities, research institutions, and industries? How do you address these challenges?
Undeniably, considering the geographical distance and the historical and societal contexts, Taiwan and Germany have to face quite substantial intercultural challenges, when trying to co-operate. But it is my firm belief and frequent factual experience, that intercultural differences are a minor matter if both parties want to approach each other, and only create an insurmountable hurdle if they don’t. Luckily in my case both sides are very committed to collaboration and until now successfully avoided intercultural pitfalls. In many cases I believe, that misunderstandings are not based by real intercultural differences, but rather a lack of mutual understanding and a high level of (cultural, political, linguistic etc.) ignorance. Bringing young people from Taiwan and Saxony into contact, offering them to learn each others language and giving them an opportunity to live, study and work in a different cultural environment effectively can create talents that will serve as bridgeheads in future collaborations.
It is a major goal of the Saxon Science Liaison Office Taiwan to open up as many points of contact as possible.
- Taiwan has a strong presence in the global semiconductor industry, especially with companies like TSMC. What steps are being taken by Saxony to attract Taiwanese investment and talent to the region, and how successful have these efforts been so far?
Having won TSMC to invest in Saxony is a first very big achievement and will certainly convince more members of the semiconducting supply chain from Taiwan and globally to also establish economic relations with the region and potentially invest and establish a permanent presence.
Germany now has to lay the groundwork to ease up this international economic engagement. Beside of providing necessary hardware and infrastructure for building up fabs and offices additional needs of the newcomers to the region will have to be addressed. A specific focus of the Saxon Science Liaison Office is, to train young talents needed in the related enterprises. The Free State of Saxony is also already working on establishing further measures to accommodate international talents and their families (eg. by improving international schooling systems and even opportunities for Mandarin language schooling).
- Beyond the semiconductor industry, what opportunities do you see for expanding cooperation between Saxony and Taiwan in fields such as renewable energy, AI, or biotechnology? What role do academic exchanges play in fostering these opportunities?
Naturally at the current stage of cooperation between Saxony and Taiwan the semiconductor industry and related research is attracting most attention, but Saxon research institutions and universities already look back on a longstanding history of collaboration in a wide array of different fields of research.
The Saxon Science Liaison Office tries very hard to bring young researchers and students from all academic fields from the Free State of Saxony and Taiwan into contact, therefore hoping to create new co-operations on the one hand and at the same time wishes to broaden established contacts into sustainable long-term co-operations.
The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) together with the Taiwanese National Science and Technology Council identify four key areas of co-operation —semiconductors, lithium batteries, hydrogen energy, and AI. The research institutions of the Free State of Saxony try to develop new collaborations accordingly, but of course not restraining itself only to these four key areas of research.
I personally see especial great potential for collaboration in life sciences and medical engineering.
- Looking at the broader picture, how do you think Germany and the European Union can strengthen ties with Taiwan, particularly in the context of trade, research collaboration, and political diplomacy? What role can Saxony play in this framework?
One of the less contested fields in collaboration traditionally is academic and research collaboration; since many decades a large number of researchers and students from Europe and Taiwan are exchanging ideas unrestrictedly. Academic exchange therefore always proves to be a very fruitful field of collaboration for European Countries with Taiwan.
Also, on national level the federal Government of Germany has to be very cautious in joining into political discourse with Taiwan, due to the “One-China-principle”. But a larger geopolitical context is beyond the responsibility of political decision makers at the level of a regional German state. Cooperation with Taiwan on state-level can therefore concentrate on factual issues and practical aspects of cooperation and ignore geopolitical issues to a large degree. The establishment of the Saxon Science Liaison Office Taiwan can help intensifying personal exchanges on a regional political level. The last year already saw many visits on state minister level eg Saxony’s State Minister for Science, Culture and Tourism, Sebastian Gemkow to Taiwan and Taiwanese ministers eg NSTC Minister Cheng-Wen Wu also visited Saxony. In 2025 we will even see an intensification of political exchange between the Free State of Saxony and Taiwan
