This October 13-17^th, a total of eight University of Vermont faculty and administrators travelled and worked with a team of Korea University faculty and administrators to launch research collaborations in Seoul, South Korea. The UVM faculty collaborating on this pilot project included Randall Harp, Associate Professor (Philosophy), Jihong Ma, Assistant Professor (Mechanical Engineering), Amrit Pandey, Assistant Professor (Electrical and Computer Engineering), Cynthia Reyes, Professor (Education), and Brittany Williams, Associate Professor (Education). The UVM administrators who organized and led the delegation were Jane Okech, Professor of Counselor Education and Supervision and Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs (Counseling, Human Development and Family Science), along with Jamie McGowan, Executive Director of International Partnerships and Programs. They were joined by Sara Helms Cahan, Howard Professor of Natural History and Associate Vice President for Research (Biology). 

“This research partnership builds on a relationship that we already have with Korea University through our study abroad program, UVM Program in South Korea, which recently launched,” said McGowan. “It extends our relationship to an institution with notable research strengths and enables our faculty to connect with Korea University faculty to advance shared research agendas.” This fall, Korea University was ranked the number one higher education institution in South Korea by The Korea Times, and it is also highly respected globally. The research workshop gives faculty from both sides of the partnership the opportunity to expand their network, share their work and ideas, and deepen their understanding of complex and nuanced global issues. International research collaboration is an important avenue to test hypotheses in different contexts, leverage institutional strengths, and uncover alternative approaches.  

The faculty involved are exploring an array of global issues, including AI in literacy and learning, the ethical implications of AI usage, autism in faculty identity formation and career progression, power system optimization; and electrical optimization of quantum technologies. While wide-ranging in topics, UVM faculty engagement with their Korean counterparts and with each other proved to be one of the key outcomes of the workshop. All of the presenters made substantial headway on these research agendas. “Extending our global reach is a key part of developing UVM’s research leadership, and we’re really excited how well this new relationship is already developing,” said Helms Cahan.  Both Korea University and the University of Vermont are supporting these collaborations through modest seed grants, meant to enable further research and collaboration, and it is expected that each team will likely generate new publications in top journals and further research grants. Further, UVM faculty are exploring ways to connect their classrooms and their students to their new colleagues, such that further opportunities for the wider UVM community materialize.

The organizers of this event, Okech and McGowan, anticipate future research and pedagogical workshops that further foster meaningful research collaborations, including the scholarship of teaching.  This program was initiated following a successful faculty and academic leadership exchange with the University of Aberdeen (Scotland), which took place at UVM over a three-day period during the summer of 2023. “We hope to make workshops like this a regular part of our programming, whereby we identify a key international partner, build on our shared institutional strengths and create faculty research matches that lead to productive outcomes for both sides of the partnership,” explains McGowan.

On November 20th, the Division of Faculty Affairs and International Partnerships and Programs will celebrate the numerous UVM faculty who have received Fulbright Scholars Awards in recent years. This is an opportunity to hear about their experiences as well as to network and learn about Fulbright opportunities for faculty and staff.  Join us!

This reception and networking event will be held:

  November 20th, 2025
  3:30 - 4:30 pm
  John Dewey Lounge, Old Mill Building
  RSVP to Emily Wilson at Emily.R.Wilson@uvm.edu
 

For University of Vermont employees and students traveling internationally for UVM business or academic purposes, the University of Vermont is providing letters articulating the purpose of the travel as well as business cards with UVM emergency contacts.  These letters can be obtained by submitting the required information to your dean and their designated point of contact (See the contacts listed below).

 Information needed will include: 

• Name: [Full Name, as in Passport]
• University of Vermont Position: [Job title, or student level and program]
• Dates of [date of departure from US] and [date of reentry to US]
• Travel Destination(s) outside of US: [countries only– cities not needed]
• Purpose of Travel: [1-2 sentences on purpose of travel – ex: to present research at xyz conference; to engage in undergraduate student recruitment; to conduct field work focused on abc – keep it brief]

This letter may feel helpful for some UVM travelers whose circumstances would benefit from additional explanation as to the purpose of the travel. These letters will not prevent US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from conducting their standard full review, which may include secondary inspection of some travelers. UVM travelers requesting a travel support letter should only present the letter if they are moved to secondary inspection by a CBP officer. Presenting such a letter at initial entry can create unnecessary confusion.

Clients of the Office of International Education are additionally encouraged to consult with the relevant OIE team prior to making any international travel plans.

Travelers who are concerned about computer searches should consider traveling with a loaner computer provided by ETS.  

CONTACTS:

• College of Agriculture and Life Sciences:      Stephanie Dion
• College of Arts and Sciences:    Paul Deslandes 
• College of Education and Social Services:     Pamela Blum
• College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences:     Jacob Leopold
• College of Nursing and Health Sciences:     Martin Hoak
• Grossman School of Business:    Barb Arel
• Patrick Leahy Honors College:     Ian Grimmer
• Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources:     Rose Feenan
• Graduate College:      Taylor Page
• Larner College of Medicine:    Brian Cote
• Non-Academic units:    Jamie McGowan    
   

The International Partnerships and Programs office awarded six Global Catalyst Research Partnership Grants to faculty across campus in December 2024. These grants will contribute not only to faculty research initiatives but help grow the University of Vermont’s connections across array of partner institutions and their faculty. These partner institutions stretch across the world to include Brazil, Canada, France, Ireland, Vietnam, and Zambia.

The awarding office, International Partnerships and Programs, established in 2023, advances the university’s international strategic directions to enable the comprehensive internationalization of the campus. “Fostering research connections is certainly an important dimension of this internationalization,” according to Jamie McGowan, executive director of the office. “UVM faculty are well-placed to cultivate international research partnerships, and we find that faculty who do collaborate internationally tend to tap into opportunities that leverage unique expertise, field sites, data, and/or equipment, for instance, and they build important research relationships that can meaningfully catalyze their work,” she continues. Building mutually beneficial research relationships can also enable broader impacts on the university – from recruiting international students; enabling faculty, staff and student mobility; accessing international grant opportunities and the like.

This year’s Global Catalyst Research Partnership Awards went to the following principal investigators:

Eric Bishop-von Wettberg, Plant and Soil Science, Vietnam-US collaboration in plant biodiversity conservation

Katherine Creutzinger, Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Integrating GPS and Bluetooth technology for cow-calf contact research: an international interdisciplinary collaboration

Kelsey Gleason, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Land Use Change and Early Childhood Health Outcomes: A Brazil Case Study

Laurent Hébert-Dufresne, Computer Science, Vermont-Ireland Rural \& Temporal Inference Group (VIRTIGo)

Benjamin Lee, Pediatrics, The Zamont Project: A Zambia-Vermont Global Health Research Initiative

Rory Waterman, Chemistry, Development of a Collaboration Between the University of Vermont and the University of Rennes

Beyond these international research partnerships, the International Partnerships and Programs office is also working on a few other partnership opportunities.  A couple of these opportunities include extending a relationship from a study abroad connection with a university in Korea, where we are exploring focused research opportunities for UVM faculty at that institution. Another opportunity, in collaboration with the Graduate College, seeks to develop global partnerships that support curricular pathways to graduate school at the University of Vermont. If you are interested in exploring international partnerships, reach out to Jamie McGowan about your ideas and interests.