Staff and students attended the official opening of a new institute created by the University of Aberdeen and South China Normal University last week (September 9).
The first intake of students at the Aberdeen Institute at SCNU attended the event in China, while staff from Aberdeen were able to join the celebrations virtually.
The 185 students will start their studies later this month, with three undergraduate programmes on offer: BSc Artificial Intelligence, BSc Computing Science, and BSc Business Management and Information Systems. Students will spend all four years studying in China, being taught by staff from both universities.
The links between the universities are long-established, with a number of existing joint undergraduate programmes in Real Estate, Finance and Computing Science, enabling students from SCNU to study at Aberdeen, while staff from the University have also taught at SCNU.
Those attending the event heard from representatives of both Universities, including Vice-Principal for Global Student Recruitment at the University of Aberdeen, Professor Alan Speight.
Professor Speight said: “I am delighted to see the official launch of the Joint Institute. This is an exciting time for both Universities, and we look forward to our first intake of students beginning their studies with us.
“The Joint Institute supports the University of Aberdeen’s ambitions to expand our international networks and partnerships, as well as giving us the opportunity to extend the reach of our teaching globally, and sustainably. We have worked with SCNU for many years and both universities welcome the opportunity to build upon what is already a very successful partnership.”
SCNU Vice President Weihua Ma said: “SCNU and the University of Aberdeen have established the Aberdeen Institute by joining forces and integrating our resources based on the 14 years’ we have worked together.
“At our launch event, looking at the energetic faces of our first intake of students - who are all outstanding candidates - I’m full of confidence in the Institute’s future development and am sure our students will enjoy great success. I deeply believe that with our joint efforts, the Institute will harvest a promising future, as we work together with the aim of developing a top class joint institute that is recognised worldwide.”