WEEK#24, 15 - 21 June 2020
In this issue:
a) 4th Phase of Gradual Measured Resumption of Operations at AIT
Email from the Director, Office of Academic Administration on13 June 2020.
The AIT Covid-19 Task Force (TF) would like to update you of the status at AIT with effect from 15 June 2020 following the Royal Thai Government’s recent announcement of the fourth phase of gradual easing of restrictions and resumption of activities with strict limitations.
Night Curfew Lifted
The Thailand night curfew hours were lifted, but the AIT main entrance Gate #1 will remain closed from midnight to 4am as per usual practice. The 7-Eleven shop will resume its 24-hour operations.
Sporting Activities
Team sports are now ALLOWED for AIT community members only, but exercise judgement to minimise contact. NO non-AIT players and NO spectators.
Gatherings
Gatherings are now ALLOWED, including for religious services and activities, but not to exceed 10 persons, strictly following social distancing of 2 meters apart.
The TF reminds you to continue to maintain a high level of precautionary measures, like regularly washing your hands, wearing a mask in public places, avoiding large crowds, maintaining social distancing, and please visit the Medical Center if you feel unwell. We must all continue to be vigilant as restrictions gradually liberalise.
Thank you very much for your continued cooperation and sacrifices to keep our community safe. Please take care, stay safe, and remain healthy too.
AIT Covid-19 Task Force
b) AIT webinar "Internationalisation in the Post-COVID-19 era: Perspectives on recruitment, exchanges, collaborations, and North-South partnerships"
The Office of International Affairs is pleased to remind you of a multidisciplinary webinar hosted by AIT (TOMORROW, June 16 at 6:30pm Bangkok Time) and organized by our partner the University of Strathclyde in the United Kingdom under the theme: Thriving after Massive Global Disruption. This series is designed to share experiences from partners across the globe to better understand the implications and impact of COVID-19.
This webinar hosted by Asian Institute of Technology is entitled: Internationalisation in the Post-Covid-19 era.
Title: Internationalisation in the Post-COVID-19 era: Perspectives on recruitment, exchanges, collaborations, and North-South partnerships
Synopsis: Of the many deep impacts which the Covid-19 pandemic has on the academic sector, one of the most critical is the impact on universities’ internationalisation. And this cuts across finances to student experiences to research to partnerships. This seminar will try to stimulate new thinking on recruitment, exchanges, collaborations, with an eye towards a changing relationship between institutions in the developed world and the developing world. Participants can also share their views on whether any policies are temporary or permanent post Covid-19
Date: Tuesday, 16 June 2020
Time: 18:30 (6:30pm) Bangkok Time (GMT+7)
Speakers:
1. Dr Eden Woon, President of Asian Institute of Technology (Main Presenter)
2. Dr Denis Simon, Executive Vice Chancellor at Duke Kunshan University
3. Prof Ian Rowlands, Professor, School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability (and formerly Associate Vice-President, International), University of Waterloo
PLEASE REGISTER it at the following link.
Please join us for the webinar tomorrow on the timely topic of higher education in the Post-COVID-19 era.
c) Technology Needs Assessment (TNA) webinar, on the topic "Climate Technologies and Technology Needs Assessments activities in Asia-Pacific"
We would like to invite you to join our Technology Needs Assessment (TNA) webinar, on the topic "Climate Technologies and Technology Needs Assessments activities in Asia-Pacific".
The webinar will take place Tuesday the 16th of June, from 10 AM to 11 AM CET. (3.00 - 4.00 pm. Thai time)
During this webinar, we will explore the sectors and technologies prioritised by countries from the Asia-Pacific region participating in the TNA project in relation to climate change adaptation and mitigation. We will discuss financial and capacity-building needs, and highlight how the TNAs can contribute to NDC implementation.
The webinar's speakers will be:
•Subash Dhar, TNA Regional Coordinator for the Asia Pacific region – UNEP DTU Partnership
•Vladimir Hecl, Programme Officer – UNFCCC
•Jens Radschinski – UNFCCC Regional Centre in Bangkok, Thailand
•Sivanappan Kumar, Professor – Asian Institute of Technology
•Ruzanna Voskanyan – Environmental Project Implementation Unit of the Ministry of Environment of Armenia
•Moderated by Léa Jehl Le Manceau, TNA Project Assistant – UNEP DTU Partnership
During the webinar, you will have the opportunity to ask us questions on the topic covered, which we will be happy to answer during the Q&A session.
Please register before the 15th of June: Register here
d) Join us for Expert Talk on The Emerging Role of Innovations in Self-reliance of Nations by Dr Vipin Kumar
Email from AIT Entrepreneurship Center on 13 June 2020.
The AIT Entrepreneurship Center (EC) cordially invites you to join the next online Expert Talk on 18 June 2020, Thursday at 3:00 PM (Bangkok time). The topic of the talk is The Emerging Role of Innovations in Self-reliance of Nations and the speaker is no other than Dr. Vipin Kumar, Director and Chief Innovation Officer at National Innovation Foundation – India (NIF), an institution of Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India.
Dr. Kumar's research and action interests are incubation and promotion of inclusive and frugal innovations by way of value addition, intellectual property protection, business development, commercialization and developing open source technologies for generation of employment opportunities for many. He incubated several innovative technologies which made their way to the domestic and international market.
He worked as resource person in UNESCO’s course on Innovation Management and workshops of policy makers, researchers to develop the road map for innovation incubation and promotion in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. The Festival of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, an annual national event jointly organized by NIF and DST under the aegis of the President’s House in India and INSPIRE Awards - MANAK a flagship programme implemented by NIF and DST which motivate millions of school students to pursue Science and a career in Research are amongst his most profound work areas in relation to India’s innovation and entrepreneurship eco-system. He is instrumental in building social and inclusive innovation based relationship between India and ASEAN Member States.
Dr. Kumar published over 100 research and review papers in the journals of national and international repute. He has served as Chairperson of various Committees of the Union and State Government as well as the Governing Board / Executive Committee Member of various prestigious Institutions.
We hope you can all join us in this important talk. Please register at this link to get the meeting id.
e) The Distinguished Entrepreneur Talk by Mr. Pham Thanh Hung
Join us for Distinguished Entrepreneur Talk by Mr. Pham Thanh Hung on 30 June 2020 at 4.30 PM.
Register Now
AIT Entrepreneurship Center
Email: entrepreneurship@ait.ac.th
Email sent from AIT Language Center on 15 June 2020.
g) Condolence: Passing away of the mother of Mrs. Neeta Karna, Assistant Teacher in AITIS
Email from the Office of Human Resources Services on 13 June 2020.
It is with sadness that we announce the passing away of Mrs. Nirmala Das, mother of Mrs. Neeta Karna and mother-in-law of Professor Anil Kumar Anal. She passed away on June 4, 2020. Funeral rites were held at her hometown in Biratnagar, Morang, Nepal.
On behalf of the AIT Community, we wish to express our heartfelt condolences and sympathies to Mrs. Neeta and her family during this time of bereavement.
Email from the Director, Office of Academic Administration on 31 May 2020
On the recommendation of our Medical Doctor, all employees are required to obtain an AIT Fit-to-Work medical certificate, free of charge at our Medical Center, in the month of June before returning to office on 1 July 2020. In this regard, employees will be informed by OHRS of their health checkup schedule at our Medical Center within the month of June. Everyone’s cooperation is solicited to come as scheduled or inform OHRS (director-ohrs@ait.ac.th) if they are rescheduling or will be obtaining their medical certificates from other hospitals / doctors. Mission-essential staff who have been reporting to office almost every day will be scheduled first, and employees residing on campus will be scheduled after office hours and/or weekends.
Registered AIT residents who left the campus to stay elsewhere in Thailand for one or more nights, will no longer be subject to 14-day self-isolation on their return to live or stay overnight at their AIT residence. Similarly, AIT residents with two homes in Thailand are now allowed to return to live at their AIT residence or stay overnight at their off-campus residence.
Team and contact sports are still NOT ALLOWED. The TF is coordinating reopening measures for the swimming pool and SU gym, which will remain CLOSED until then.
The Cafeteria, SU Snack Bar and the West Lake Restaurant (Som Tam) will be available for DINE-IN with effect from 1 June 2020, complying with the required government regulations and strict social distancing guidelines.
The TF reminds you to continue to maintain a high level of precautionary measures, like regularly washing your hands, wearing a mask in public places, avoiding large crowds, maintaining social distancing, and please visit the Medical Center if you feel unwell.
AIT Covid-19 Task Force
i) The opening of Thai Courses (online via ZOOM)
Email from AIT Language Center on 21 May 2020
Speaking and Listening Thai for Beginners (Online course)
The 20-hour online course is an introduction to the Thai language covering basic words, phrases, simple daily expressions and basic grammatical structures to communicate with Thais. The purpose of the course is to introduce participants to the principles and basics of the Thai language as used in everyday conversation.
Course timetable
8 June – 22 July 2020
Monday and Wednesday from 17:00 – 18:30
Click here to register
Reading and Writing Thai for Beginners (Online course)
This course is an introduction to Thai reading and writing. It is a 7-week course that is designed for those who do not know how to read or write Thai. The participants will practice reading letters and learn how to spell and form words in the Thai language.
Course timetable
9 June – 23 July 2020
Tuesday and Thursday from 17:00 – 18:30
Click here to register
Course Fee: 2,500 baht for AIT community and 3,000 baht for outsiders. Click here to make a payment.
Regards,
The Language Center
http://www.languages.ait.ac.th
j) Reopening Library: 23 May 2020 onwards from 8.00 a.m. - 4.30 p.m.
Email from AIT Library on 22 May 2020
Please be informed that AIT Library will be open from 23 May 2020 onwards from 8.00 a.m. - 4.30 p.m. To protect yourself and others around you at the Library, please follow the guidelines below.
Guidelines
• Do wear a face mask when entering the Library.
• Wash your hand with the provided alcohol-based gel at the checkpoint.
• Stay at least 1-2 meters away from other users in the searching areas, reading areas, and other study spaces.
• Small-Group Study Rooms are limited from 6 to 2 persons.
• Large-Group Study Rooms are limited from 10 to 4 persons.
• Training Room is limited from 50 to 20 persons.
• Online Studio Room is limited from 25 to 10 persons.
• Video Teleconference Room is limited from 35 to 15 persons.
• A person who doesn't wear a mask
• A person who do not practice social distancing
• Please also avoid shaking hands or touching your face.
Training Courses/ Conferences
a) The International Conference on Energy, Environment and Climate Change (International Conference on Utilities and Exhibition) – ICUE 2020
IAU is delighted to announce the second site visit since the launch of the "IAU Institutional Site Visits" programme in 2019. This year, the visit will take place at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Bangkok, Thailand on 30 Nov - 3 Dec 2020 and the main topic will be "Social Impact with Innovation".
Hiroshima, Japan from 2-4 December 2020.
Position: Assistant/Associate Professor (ETM) (School Of Environment Resources and Development)
Ref. No. 1/20
Deadline: 30 June 2020
http://www.hro.ait.ac.th/job/show/638
Position: Associate/Assistant Professor (STE) (School of Engineering & Technology )
Ref. No. 04/20
Deadline: 31 August 2020
http://www.hro.ait.ac.th/job/show/524