Two new memoranda focusing on promoting research and education - <em>News</em>
Monday 23 April 2007
By Naomi Weston
Imperial College London is forging stronger links with China with the signing of two new Memoranda of Understanding with Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Tsinghua University in Beijing. The aim is to develop academic collaborations with the universities and promote cooperation through the exchange of information and staff and students.
Imperial and Shanghai Jiao Tong University will enter into an academic affiliation to promote the research and education mission of both institutions, building on a series of existing research links on departmental level. This new collaboration will allow postdoctoral researchers and graduate students to travel between the two institutions and train at both universities.
The Memorandum of Understanding between Imperial and the Tsinghua University in Beijing focuses on academic collaboration through the exchange of staff and students. The two institutions will also explore future possibilities for joint cooperative research projects.
To underline the College’s commitment to collaborations with China, Deputy Rector, Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz travelled to China as part of the College’s Centenary celebrations. Welcoming the two new links, he said:
"Imperial already has strong links with China, a country with an appetite for scientific knowledge and technological advances that matches our own. I’m delighted that these new agreements will strengthen our relationship further and it’s great to come here to see for myself the pace of economic growth."
Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz also addressed two alumni receptions held in China to celebrate Imperial's Centenary, which attracted 250 Chinese past students. They were sponsored by the Tanaka Business School as part of their Executive MBA International Study Tour. The Study Tour to China provided the 60 MBA students with an opportunity to study business in a different environment. The tour focused on the growth of the Chinese economy and how small and large companies have made the most out of the huge market potential, with companies visited including, Motorola, PetroChina, AIRBUS, B&Q and Bank of China.
Imperial has established links with China and has entered research collaborations in the past with the Nanjing Institute of Geophysical Prospecting and the Hong Kong City University and Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
There are over 700 alumni in China and 1, 332 current Chinese students studying at the College.
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