On July 21-22, 2022, the Assistant Dean of Special Affairs and International Relations at the College of Arts, Media, and Technology, Asst. Prof. Dr. Orawit Thinnukool, and the representatives from the Faculty of Education, Asst. Prof. Dr. Pattaraporn Khuwuthyakorn and Asst. Prof. Dr. Uraiwan Hanwong, attended the ASTRA project meeting at the Crowne Plaza Vientiane in Laos.

ASTRA, or Advancing Strategic Management, Leadership, and Fundraising in Higher Education in Asia, is a three-year Erasmus+ funded project under the Capacity Building in the field of Higher Education Action. The project includes eight partners from five countries in the EU and Southeast Asia, including the National University of Laos, Suvannakhet University, Prince of Songkla University, Chiang Mai University, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Athens University of Economics and Business, Symplexis, and BK Consult. The main goal of ASTRA is to increase the capacity of university staff to access financial resources through the exploitation of relevant donor-funded Research and Development Programs.

Currently, the ASTRA project is developing a training and capacity building program, "Train the Trainers," for the four targeted Asian universities in order to ensure sustainable operation and access to donor-funded programs and establish new Research and Development Innovation Hubs in the future. During the meeting, all partners discussed the progress of the project, its achievements and deliverables so far, and suggestions for the next steps in the following months.