Fu Jen Catholic University (FJCU) has implemented the 2025 Higher Education Sprout Project with the overarching vision of “Crossing Boundaries, Surpassing Limits, and Achieving Excellence.” The University is committed to developing the local area into the Wenzaizun Sustainable Innovation University District, focusing on the promotion of local connections, sustainable development, and internationalization. Building upon innovation, the University promotes sustainable development on campus and collaborates closely with neighboring communities, overcoming geographical constraints and traditional campus boundaries to evolve into a locally embedded “university district.”
Below is an overview of the University’s highlights of the 2025 Higher Education Sprout Project:
1. Taiwan’s Only Pontifical University Integrating Information Technology and Humanistic Care
Guided by its G.R.A.C.E. educational philosophy, FJCU continues to advance the humanistic foundation of a pontifical university, actively promoting deeper integration between traditional humanistic, artistic, and linguistic disciplines and emerging information technologies.
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AI-Enabled Creative Design and Artistic Translation
The College of Art achieved significant breakthroughs in digital pedagogy. A faculty member from the Department of Applied Arts received the 2025 Silver Davey Awards for Best Use of Animation, demonstrating the University’s strong international design capability. The college curricula comprehensively integrate technologies such as AI-generated art, augmented reality (AR), Luma 3D modeling, aerial photography, and AI-generated music to create immersive “Digital ArtScape” experiences. Additionally, plans are underway to establish a VR-based Campus Life Pavilion.
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Enhancing AI-Assisted Humanities and Local Engagement
FJCU is increasingly applying AI technologies to humanities-based landscape interpretation and cultural promotion. Initiatives include the College of Liberal Arts offering “Folk Literature and Interactive AI Storytelling,” students from the College of Foreign Languages and Literatures developing a “Translation Quotation Chatbot” via the Dify platform and undertaking industry translation projects, and Japanese Department students creating an AI-powered Line Chatbot for language practice and creativity development. The University’s institutional research shows that students enrolled in courses integrating IT and humanistic care report significantly higher levels of competence in IT application and innovation.
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Building an AI Faculty and Learning Network
FJCU was formally admitted to the TAICA (Taiwan Artificial Intelligence College Alliance) and its AI credit-based programs.
2. Innovative Interdisciplinary Teaching to Cultivate Industry-Ready Talent
The University has shifted its pedagogical focus from merely offering diverse courses to adopting an industry-academia outcome-oriented and practice-based verification model, ensuring students gain the cross-disciplinary competitiveness required for the digital era. Students have achieved notable success in national and international competitions.
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Outstanding Results in Elite Innovation Competitions
A faculty–student startup team won First Place in the Somatosensory Interaction Technology Category and the Special Award for Interdisciplinary Integration at the 2025 National College Smart Innovation and Interdisciplinary Integration Competition with their project “AI-Based Intelligent Occupational Therapy Support System.” In addition, in the 2025 Information Application Service Innovation Awards, student teams won First Place in the Business Development and Governance Category and Third Place in the Information Application Category.
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Strong Alignment with Workplace Expectations
The University’s institutional research indicates that graduates who completed industry-academia outcome-based courses or innovative curricula reported significantly higher alignment between their academic training and professional roles, as well as between their skills and workplace requirements, than those who did not take such courses, showing that the courses help reduce the time needed for graduates to secure their first job.
3. Advancing Interdisciplinary Innovation: Deepening Sustainability, Digital Competency, and Design Thinking
The University has embedded the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Design Thinking (DT), and digital literacy as core components of interdisciplinary teaching. In addition, with the establishment of university-level research centers, the University integrates its resources to promote forward-looking academic research.
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Sustainability Leadership and Professional Certification Pathways
The University offers ESG professional certification courses, achieving 220% of its target for training carbon inventory seed students, and directly applies their competencies to campus sustainability initiatives. Students enrolled in sustainability-integrated courses reported significant improvement in sustainability perception, systems thinking, and cross-disciplinary collaboration.
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Development of Design Thinking and AI Teaching Modules
As an extension of the Ministry of Education’s Nursery Project, the University’s Creative Design Center actively developed a Design Thinking + AI lesson preparation RAG system and completed multiple design thinking-based teaching modules, promoting pedagogical methods that integrate ESG service learning with AI.
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Focus on Forward-Looking Interdisciplinary Research
The University formally established four university-level research centers: Sustainable Development, Holistic Health, AI and Technological Data, and Humanities and Social Responsibility. The University also launched its first cross-national collaborative research projects with Western Sydney University (Australia) and the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam). In addition, the College of Law and Fu Jen Catholic University Hospital initiated joint research on the criminal law implications of AI-assisted medical practices, examining the legal responsibilities of AI providers, operators, and users.
4. Advancing the G.R.A.C.E.–Based Governance Model to Build a Sustainable University District with Local and International Integration
The University continues to strengthen both international mobility and local social responsibility, establishing a unique and comprehensive international support system to transform the area into a “sustainable university district that integrates localization and internationalization.”
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Enhancement of International Administration and Multilingual Support
Through dedicated funding for the “Internationalization Administrative Support System,” the University provides multilingual on-site services within key administrative units, greatly improving international students’ campus adjustment and administrative communication efficiency.
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Deepening of Global Citizenship Education and Service-Learning Engagement
The University has dispatched overseas service-learning teams to Vietnam, Tanzania, India, and Mongolia, implementing SDG-related programs in environmental sustainability, AI literacy, health education, and Chinese-language instruction. Locally, the “Child Safety Action Program” incorporates AI education and online safety awareness into service-learning activities for elementary school students in Xinzhuang District.
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Breakthroughs in International Exchange and Professional Achievement
The College of Fashion and Textiles showcased sustainable fashion design at the GSFW Sustainable Fashion Week in Hungary. The Resource Center of Foreign Language Teaching and Digital Learning launched the Global General language learning platform, offering learning modules in six European languages (English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Portuguese), making it a unique resource among Taiwan’s higher education institutions. Students from the College of Fine Arts won First Place and Third Place in the international Indie Film Music Contest.