The University of Abertay Dundee today welcomed visitors from Nanchang University in China, which have a prestigious partnership to deliver high-quality degree education.
A formal agreement was signed between the universities in 2002, with the first students arriving from China early in 2003. Hundreds of students have now successfully graduated from postgraduate courses at Abertay, including computing, IT, games design and finance.
The partnership is also one of the first between a British university and a Chinese university to receive full approval from China’s Ministry of Education.
The delegation from Nanchang University, which is situated in Jiangxi Province and has around 90,000 students in total, received a tour of Abertay’s business, computing, games design and science facilities and met with senior academics. They also met the new Nanchang students who have just arrived to start studying at Abertay.
Professor Bateson, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Recruitment and Student Experience) at Abertay University, said: “Abertay University is very proud of our strong partnership with Nanchang University, which has given hundreds of Chinese students the opportunity to study our postgraduate courses.
“But as well as this, the cultural exchange of having a strong Chinese presence in our student body is extremely positive. Abertay prides itself on being a student-focussed university which warmly welcomes students from right across the world, and this is just one example of this successful international approach.”
She added: “We strongly believe that our diverse student population is a great advantage to all our students, giving people from very different backgrounds the opportunity to interact with each other and learn about very different cultures.
“As the world becomes more and more globalised, students with an appreciation and respect for different cultures have a real competitive advantage. I’m delighted to welcome our colleagues from Nanchang University today, and look forward to many more years of successful partnership.”
Professor Rositsa Bateson today welcomed Professor Li Baoming (Vice-President), Ms Wan Fan (Vice-President, Information Engineering School), Ms Wan Yiling (Research Associate, Information Engineering School) and Mr Liu Tao (Teacher, Information Engineering School) from Nanchang University.
Abertay has considerably expanded its activities in China in recent years. As well as the long-standing partnership with Nanchang, Abertay now has similar linkages with Peking University, China’s most prestigious higher education institution, and with Shanghai University, Beijing Normal University, Southwest University of Science and Technology, and Qingdao Agricultural University.
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Image shows (from left to right): Professor Bateson, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Recruitment and Student Experience) at Abertay University; Professor Li Baoming, Vice-President at Nanchang University.
For media enquiries, please contact Chris Wilson (Communications Officer) – T: 01382 308935 M: 07837 250284 E: chris.wilson@abertay.ac.uk