Vice Chairman FU Qiang leads ZJU delegation to visit Austria and U.K.

From December 4 to 8, FU Qiang, vice chairman of the Zhejiang University Council, led a delegation on a tour of Austria and the United Kingdom, aiming to foster and deepen collaborative ties with key partner universities and international organizations. The focus was on promoting cooperation in relevant disciplines and reinforcing the cultivation of qualified personnel for international organizations.

The delegation commenced its visit on December 4 with productive discussions between FU Qiang and LIU Hua, deputy director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and head of the Department of Technical Cooperation. Both parties reviewed longstanding partnerships, including innovation and development in plant germplasm mutations and student internships, and explored future directions for cooperation. As nuclear technology has broad applications in addressing global challenges such as climate change, agriculture, environment, and health, they committed themselves to formulating cooperation plans aligned with the Atoms4Food initiative, including collaboration in personnel exchanges and technical consultations, leveraging each other’s strengths to make significant contributions to tackling global problems.

On December 5, FU Qiang and his delegation visited the University of Vienna in Austria. In discussions with Manuela Baccarini, vice-rector for Research and International Affairs, both sides presented the latest developments and strategic research directions. They reached agreements on renewing the inter-university cooperation framework agreement, intensifying two-way student exchanges, and deepening collaboration in foreign language disciplines.

During the visit to Austria, FU Qiang and his delegation also met with the Chinese delegation to the United Nations and other international organizations in Vienna, and exchanged ideas on the joint cultivation of talents for international organizations.

On December 7, the delegation visited the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom and received a warm welcome from Principal and Vice-Chancellor Peter Mathieson, Vice Principal International James Smith, and Vice-Principal and Head of the College of Science and Engineering Iain Gordon. Both sides lauded the achievements of ZJU-UoE, and expressed their anticipation to expand cooperation in science and engineering, strengthen two-way student and faculty exchanges, and create a paradigm of strategic cooperation between Chinese and British universities. The delegation also toured the Edinburgh BioQuarter campus and the King’s Buildings campus and explored the prospects for cooperation with the College of Science and Engineering.

On December 8, FU Qiang and his delegation visited Imperial College London and University College London. Talks at Imperial College London with Maggie Dallman, vice president for International Affairs, centered on deepening inter-university partnerships, strengthening joint graduate programs, and advancing sustainable development education.

At University College London, discussions with Pro-Vice Provost Parama Chaudhuryand and Pro-Vice Provost David Coen resulted in consensus on enhancing curriculum cooperation, fostering student and faculty exchanges, and launching a new round of strategic cooperation projects (2024-2026) to advance multidimensional strategic cooperation. The visit also saw the organization of discipline-specific exchanges in engineering and medicine, setting the stage for bilateral seminar mechanisms and research project applications.