Professor Wen Wang FREng, Vice Principal for Science and Engineering has led Queen Mary delegation including colleagues from the Faculty of Science and Engineering, Professor Alex Clark, Professor James Busfield, Dr Rachel Appleton, and Dr Chinnapat Panwisawas, as well as Manyi Cristofoli, Head of International Research and Innovation at JRMO. to visit Thailand between 19th and 23rd January 2026.

Science and Engineering Faculty Strategic funding from Research England via the International Science Partnership Fund (ISPF) has been awarded to Dr Chinnapat Panwisawas as the Principal Investigator (PI) for the ISPF ODA project for the second year, to strengthen strategic partnerships with Thailand.

The visit also included a meeting between Queen Mary, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT) and the Permanent Secretary of Thailand’s Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research, and Innovation (MHESI), Professor Dr Supachai Pathumnakul. Discussions focused on proposed TNE initiatives and their long-term potential, with the collaboration receiving strong encouragement from the Permanent Secretary.

In addition, the Queen Mary delegation met the Secretary-General of the Office of the Civil Service Commission (OCSC) to discuss collaboration around the Foundation Program for Outstanding Development Opportunity Scholarship (ODOS), a Thai government initiative which provides scholarships to support underprivileged students with high academic potential. Conversations also covered academic support for Royal Thai Government PhD scholarship recipients and other government-funded students who will undertake their studies at Queen Mary.

As part of the January visit to Thailand, the Queen Mary delegations led by Professor Wen Wang has visited KMUTT to work together to advance transnational education (TNE) activities, including through the development of new degree programmes to be delivered jointly by Queen Mary and KMUTT. This marked the significant step forward in our partnership to establish the TNE programmes in Thailand.

KMUTT and Queen Mary has recently been awarded a TNE Exploratory Grant 2025 titled: “The Flying Faculty Model as a Transnational Education for Engineering Study in Thailand”, funded by the British Council in partnership with MHESI.

Moreover, another TNE Exploratory Grant 2025 titled: “Building a Dual-Degree Pathway in Materials Science and Nanoengineering between QMUL and Mahidol University” has awarded to Faculty of Science, Mahidol University and Queen Mary to develop a dual degree programme in Materials Science and Engineering. The Queen Mary delegations have also visited Mahidol University to start the discussion on the plan for the TNE activities later this year.

Dr Chinnapat Panwisawas is the PI from Quen Mary to oversee these two British Council TNE Exploratory Grants.