On 25October 2018, an MOU signing ceremony was held between NSTDA, Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology (SIIT) and Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST) to develop PhD graduates to strengthen capacity of Thai STI workforce. Representing three parties in the signing were Dr. Narong Sirilertworakul, NSTDA President, Prof. Dr. Somnuk Tangtermsirikul, SIIT Director and Prof. Dr. Tetsuo Asano, JAIST President.
Founded in 1990, JAIST is located in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. JAIST offers graduate study based on research in advanced science and technology. The school currently has 850 students enrolled, of which more than 40% are international students and 40 Thai students. JAIST is active in pursuing collaboration with industry and international partners.
As for PhD education, JAIST has collaboration with NSTDA and several Thai universities such as Chulalongkorn University, Thammasat University and King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, on programs in Knowledge Science and Information Science. The collaboration has resulted in 51 PhD graduates. This signed MOU aims to produce PhD graduates in material science, nanotechnology and biotechnology and is linked to the NSTDA-SIIT 5-year collaboration plan (2018-2022) to support 30 PhD students.