The University of Birmingham has signed a collaborative agreement with Huazhong University of Science and Technology to develop a dual degree programme that will teach both Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences to students.
This Joint Educational Programme will integrate each university’s excellence in these study areas and provide a high-quality learning experience for students in China.
The programme was launched in a special online ceremony, where Professor Adam Tickell, Vice Chancellor of the University of Birmingham, and Prof Li Yuanyuan, Party Secretary of HUST welcomed the new initiative, building on a two decade-long partnership between our two universities.
This landmark agreement represents an exciting new era of close collaboration between our two universities and is testament to our growing reputation in China. It underpins development of an exciting undergraduate dual degree programme delivered in Wuhan at HUST’s new international campus.
Professor Adam Tickell – Vice Chancellor of the University of Birmingham
A first milestone in the process to implement the Joint Educational Programme will be an application to the Chinese Ministry of Education, with the proposal that the first students begin their studies in September 2024.
Professor Adam Tickell commented: “This landmark agreement represents an exciting new era of close collaboration between our two universities and is testament to our growing reputation in China. It underpins development of an exciting undergraduate dual degree programme delivered in Wuhan at HUST’s new international campus.
“The University of Birmingham has a long history of working closely with partner universities in China, but our links with HUST stretch back two decades and have been among the strongest, longest lasting, and most fruitful.
“This may not be the beginning of our universities’ partnership, but it is the beginning of an exciting period of expansion that will create further opportunities in education, research, and exchange – adding considerably to our combined global reputation for excellence.”
Over 500 HUST students have already benefited from the two universities’ links – studying engineering and biosciences in Birmingham under existing articulation programmes. From 2016, the medical colleges of each university established academic staff and student exchanges, with highly successful collaboration between respective schools of Nursing and Dentistry.
In 2018, the two universities held a young researcher symposium in Birmingham, which saw postdoctoral students and junior lecturers from HUST meeting their contemporaries in Birmingham to share research results and ideas in biomedical science.
Professor Li Yuanyuan commented: “The University of Birmingham has been one of our most valued partners in the UK since 2003. Over the years, we maintained pragmatic collaboration across a wide range of disciplines including engineering, material science, economics, and medicine. And in November 2021, we signed a Key Partnership Agreement, further strengthening our vision for development and mutual commitment.
“We are keen to introduce world-leading academic resources, to realize quality development with global impact, and eventually to promote the development for global higher education as well as our community with a shared future.”
The online ceremony was witnessed by Professor Jon Frampton, Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor China and Director of the University of Birmingham’s China Institute and colleagues from Birmingham, alongside Professor Jianguo Chen, Vice President for International Affairs and many of his HUST colleagues. The ceremony was also attended by Dominic McAllister, British Consulate General, Wuhan.
This new transnational education project further extends the University’s ambitions for in-country delivery of education in China, building on the success of the Jinan University-University of Birmingham joint institute (J-BJI), which has graduated almost 300 students over the last two years.
Professor Jon Frampton commented: “This new partnership with our friends at HUST is another exciting opportunity for the University of Birmingham to work in partnership to deliver high-quality education with a global impact, which gives Chinese students skills that are highly sought after by international graduate employers.”
