Forge ahead on the new journey, and contribute to the new era. Since the 14th University Congress of the CPC, Zhejiang University has been keeping in mind the “top priorities of the country”, striving to “take the lead”, and taking solid steps towards building a world-class university in China that is “Premium, Excellent, Admirable, and Keen (PEAK). Looking back on the past and looking into the future, on the occasion that the 15th University Congress of the CPC is about to be held, ZJU releases a series of newsletters to showcase in an all-round manner its development achievements in the past five years.
On April 11, ZJU’s official WeChat account released an article entitled “ZJU, very international”, which covered the explorations and contributions made by the International Campus to ZJU’s endeavor to build a world-class university. Let’s take a look together!
Building an international collaborative education model
“In my opinion, China’s science is rising and flourishing. Here it is a fertile land full of opportunities and possibilities. I already knew ZJU long before coming to China.” Dr. Aaron Irving is a researcher in ZJE, obsessed with studying bats. He received the “olive branch” from the International Campus about 2 years ago, and resolutely decided to come to China to embark on a new research journey in Haining.
Panoramic of International Campus
Dr. Aaron said that “ZJE welcomes young and fresh blood, and provides faculty members with excellent research facilities and environment.” As an assistant professor and Ph.D. advisor at ZJE, he focuses on emerging zoonotic virus infections and the host-pathogen interactions caused by these viruses. The “ZJE” he referred to is Zhejiang University-University of Edinburgh Institute of the International Campus, Zhejiang University.
Aaron was guiding students in conducting experiments.
International Campus has brought together a group of top scientists from across the world, including Academician of the Singapore Academy of Engineering, Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in the UK, a Member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and Fellow of Australian Academy of Science. Academicians and students engage in fun games on the ground track field, enjoy “Afternoon Tea with the Deans” at the Residential College, jointly explore cutting-edge issues of science, and search for answers to the problems faced by mankind.
Chinese and international students were at a high-table dinner.
English lectures, small-class seminars, process evaluation…on this Campus, lectures offered by Chinese and international faculty members, hands-on practice, thematic discussions and public speaking, summer camps, and the quality control system that meets Chinese and international standards, all enable students to access the future-oriented education that combines the strengths of the East and the West. Guided by the educational philosophy of “National Identity, International Vision, Global Competitiveness, and Worldwide Accountability”, over 50% of the winners of the National Scholarship and the Scholarship of the Provincial Government are members of the Communist Party of China, and 90% of the graduates pursue further studies on the “four major directions”. 28% of the undergraduates have published high-level papers; undergraduates have also won the Outstanding Winner INFORMS Award at the Mathematical Contest in Modeling by 12 person times; over 100 students have published papers at Science and other top international academic journals, or presented papers at major international academic conferences. The quality of graduates is widely recognized. 76.9% of the graduates have been admitted to world’s TOP 20 universities, and 14.4% admitted to overseas doctoral programs with full scholarship.
An international professor was leading students in field education.
In September 2020, 357 Chinese students admitted to Cornell University and UIUC could not travel to the United States due to the COVID-19 pandemic, registered at the International Campus as exchange students; in September 2021, 17 first-year UoE graduates and 35 ZJE graduates started their graduate studies together on the International Campus. They were the first group of master and doctoral students educated for UoE degrees outside the UK in UoE’s 400-plus years’ history. In November 2022, the China Studies Program opened a new chapter following its 10th anniversary. The International Campus is becoming a new highland for building the “Study Abroad in China” brand and polishing the “golden card” of ZJU’s international collaborative education.
International students were celebrating the First Cultural Festival of the International Campus.
After ten years’ exploration, the International Campus is now implementing in-depth the international collaborative education model characterized by “Self-Initiation, High-Standard, One to Many (i.e. 1+x)”, and partners with world-class universities on dual-degree undergraduate programs, dual-degree doctoral programs, international partners’ single-degree master programs, and other high-level “localized international education” programs. It strives to construct an ideological and political education landscape. International Campus has partnered with world-class universities in establishing two Sino-foreign cooperative education institutions that are non-independent non-legal entities, taking the lead in exploring the “International Campus” model of “a prestigious university+a famous city+international partners”. 10-plus universities in China have drawn on the experience of the International Campus in their internationalized education practices. In September 2022, the competent national authorities clearly proposed to “leverage the distinctive strengths of the International Campus, Zhejiang University…to build an international collaborative education model to promote regional development, and play a greater demonstration role of educational openness and cooperation in boosting the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta”.
ZJUI graduates were taking a group photo after the Commencement.
International Campus has been exploring how to accelerate the convergence of world’s top cutting-edge talents, optimize educational philosophy and management model, enhance the talent cultivation level, speed up the transfer of research results, accelerate the integrated development of education, technology and talents, and realize the mutual integration and promotion of “a prestigious university and a famous city”. This “ZJU model” is becoming an exciting convergence point for education reform, international exchange, and university-city collaboration.
Source: ZJU official WeChat account
Translation: YU Jianqing
Editor: SUN Xiaolei
Managing Editor: XUE Qian