Seven students from the University of Aberdeen have been successful in obtaining places on an Easter Programme taking place in China next month.
Only 20 places have been made available to Scottish students, and the University is very proud that a third of these places will be filled by Aberdeen students who will be heading to Shanghai, one of the world's most important centres of business and finance.
Professor Dominic Houlihan, Vice Principal (Research & Commercialisation) is delighted for the students. He said: "The University is extremely pleased to have seven of its students accepted on the Easter Programme taking place in China.
"The programme offers a packed schedule for the students with a variety of cultural and recreational activities such as acrobatics, calligraphy and Tai Chi.
"Participants will also be visiting local companies to gain an insight into the business world and opportunities to think how they may wish to engage with China in the future."
The three-week Easter Programme will run from Monday, March 17 and will include 40 hours of language learning in small classes at different levels. Students will be assessed and placed into different classes according to their language proficiency. All of the teaching will be delivered by experienced and qualified staff in China. Students will be able to use the language as they are learning to get around Shanghai. For those who already have some basic Chinese, they will be able to improve their proficiency to a more advanced level.
The University will be funding the cost of the flights for all of the successful students from the Principal's Small Grants Fund, supporting the funded places already offered by the Scottish Government.
One of the participants, Morag Brown, a 4th Year MA English and Hispanic Studies student said: "I am so pleased to have been selected to attend the 2008 China Easter Programme as I have been attending classes in Chinese at the University Language Centre since October 2007.
"The programme will be an opportunity for me to get the chance to greatly improve and consolidate my language skills. It will also be beneficial to me in terms of my career aspirations. I intend to pursue a career in an international organisation such as the British Council or the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and I am sure that this experience will make me more employable.
"On top of this, I feel I will be able to act as an ambassador for the University of Aberdeen in China and am very grateful that the University has provided me with funding to pay for my flights to attend the programme."