Introduction
In a bid to promote academic research and international academic exchange and cooperation, as well as raise the standards for research, the University initiated the Office of Academic Development (OAD in September 1996. The OAD is committed to academic research promotion, international academic exchange, cooperation, publishing and other academic research affairs. It comprises three divisions: the Division of Academic Research Promotion and Coordination, the Division of Academic Cooperation, and the Division of Publishing.
To copy with university autonomy and spread cooperative education, adopted by the 69th university affairs meeting, the previous Division of Publishing was dissolved and replaced by the Division of Research Planning and Coordination in 1998. The Division of Research Planning and Coordination assumes the role of sketching out the academic prospects and plans for the mid- and long-term development of NTNU, promoting university-level integrated projects, conducting external evaluations, and performing all sorts of performance appraisals.
In 2007, the Amendment to the University Act was enacted to advocate the internationalization of higher education, the development planning of the state&rsquos science and technology, as well as to encourage technology authorization, technological entrepreneurship, and university knowledge industrialization. To cater for such reformation, the 97th extra-ordinary university affair meeting resolves that the Division of Academic Cooperation - formerly affiliated with the OAD - was expanded, and the Division of International Affairs was added to it. The OAD was also renamed the Office of Research and Development (ORD. The ORD undertakes research planning and promotion, technology transfer, academic cooperation, industrial-academic cooperation, and other research development activities. It established three divisions: the Division of Research Planning and Coordination, the Division of Academic Research Promotion and Coordination, and the Division of Research and Industry Liaison. In accordance with the development program of university affairs in 2009, the Innovation & Incubation Center was affiliated to the ORD.
