Borderless competition
UQ Economics students pair up with students from National Chengchi University and participate in groups to address a task.
Students work together via a number of digital platforms in order to tackle their given economic issue over a four-week period, before submitting their work via video to a panel of international judges. The students remain in various geographical locations throughout the whole competition, never meeting in person.
The task
In 2015 all UN Member States adopted 17 goals for sustainable development. These goals are part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Goal 14 is to “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development”. Identify and research a problem related to the oceans, seas, and marine environments (Goal 14). Apply economic theory to develop and propose a sustainable solution to the problem. Examples of problems you could research include:
- Threats to marine life (e.g. whales, dolphins)
- Threats to marine environments (e.g. coral reefs)
- The impact of commercial fishing,
- Pollution in waterways and oceans, etc.
Your proposed initiative does not have to propose a large-scale, far-reaching project. However, you must demonstrate the economic value and impact of your proposal. You could do this for example by drawing upon relevant facts, statistics, and literature to analyse the economic costs and benefits of your proposed initiative.
The results
First place
Team 8 - Shuai Liu and Devanshi Tyago (UQ) and Chen Yu and Claire (NCCU)
Second place
Team 3 - Oliver Low and Pham Bao Nguyen (UQ) and Austin and Joey (NCCU)
Third place
Team 4 - Zeang Li and Greta Gordon (UQ) and Collins and Wendy (NCCU)
Honourable mention #1
Team 6 - Mingrui Chen and Elijah Phal (UQ) and Kathy and Cynthia (NCCU)
Honourable mention #2
Team 11 - Man Lok Chan and Wai Leuk (Tommy) Ma (UQ) and Nelly and Alice (NCCU)
The task
To date, both Taiwan and Australia have emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic relatively unscathed. Nonetheless, the pandemic has revealed potential weakness and fractures in both economies, ranging from local labour conditions (e.g., seasonal workers in Australia) to geopolitical strategic concerns.
The students must propose an initiative between non-government entities within Taiwan and Australia that could improve their economic resilience in the face of possible future global crises. The proposed projects do not have to focus solely on a business project – it could be a cultural, professional or academic programme.
The results
First place
Team 5
Simone Farlie UQ, Jerry Lin NCCU, Austin Smidt UQ, Alex Hsieh NCCU.
Second place
Team 9
Jia Wei Peck UQ, Bernice Chen NCCU, Holly Williams UQ, Enya Su NCCU.
Third place
Team 13
Guan-Jia Huang UQ, Chen-Yu Shih NCCU, Rahul Mathur UQ, Alice Tseng NCCU.
Honourable mention
Team 2
Shaarmeetha Revindran UQ, Danny Kuo NCCU, Theo Gibbons UQ, Yuan-Chih Lee NCCU.
Borderless is an interuniversity competition run in partnership between the National Chengchi University and The University of Queensland.
The task
Students were to propose an initiative that can promote mutually beneficial trade and/or investment between Taiwan and Australia, whose governments can ‘unofficially’ support. Their proposed initiative could be a cultural, professional, business or academic programme, but they were required to demonstrate an economic impact.
Using relevant facts, statistics and literature, students had to economically analyse the benefits of their proposal and argue its value for the required costs.
The results
Judges' Comments:
“Clean and simple idea very skilfully presented and argued. Indicates the knowledge on the limitation of their analysis but nonetheless put forward a convincing case.”
First place |
| Eric L. (NCCU) |
| Ti-Wen C. (NCCU) |
| Jennifer M. (UQ) |
| Neve L. (UQ) |
Judges' Comments:
“Very nice ideas, with a lot of thoughts in it.”
Second place |
| Frank H. (NCCU) |
| Rachel H. (NCCU) |
| Muhammad I. (UQ) |
| Ruiwen Z. (UQ) |
Judges' Comments:
“An interesting idea with an engaging presentation.”
Third place |
| Apple F. (NCCU) |
| Frank C. (NCCU) |
| Fahim S. (UQ) |
| Dona S. (UQ) |
Judges' Comments:
“Identified plausible collaboration. Clear explanation. Very professional presentation. However, some important considerations (e.g., environment, national security) are missing.”
Honourable Mention |
| Jane L. (NCCU) |
| Bing-Yang C. (NCCU) |
| Howard. W (UQ) |
| Joshua Z. (UQ) |
Judges' Comments:
“Interesting ideas. The attempt of arguing that the indirect benefit is worth the cost is convincing.”
Honourable Mention |
| Yin-Hsuan C (NCCU) |
| Beans L. (NCCU) |
| Ben S. (UQ) |
| Kai O. (UQ) |
Judges' Comments:
“Identified a genuine sector for collaboration, though the time horizon of the proposal is unclear.”
Honourable mention |
| Tyreke N. (NCCU) |
| Alice H. (NCCU) |
| Max B. (UQ) |
| Greer C. (UQ) |
The opinions expressed in this video reflect only the opinions of its authors. They do not represent the views of the organisers of the competition, nor those of National Chengchi University or The University of Queensland.
Borderless is an interuniversity competition run in partnership between the National Chengchi University and The University of Queensland.