On the afternoon of May 7^th, HUST and The University of Bristol signed a cooperation agreement in the fields of public health and engineering and discussed further steps to strengthen their collaboration in the future via video conference. Chen Jianguo, HUST Vice President, and Erik Lithander, Vice President of The University of Bristol, both attended the event.

In his speech, Chen pointed out the similar disciplinary structure and advantages of both sides. Hence, the scholars from the two universities have been maintaining close academic exchanges and cooperation, with more than 60 high-quality papers being jointly published since 2017. The exchange and cooperation has been scaled up since 2020, when the memorandum of cooperation was signed. More than that, unclogging channels for student-to-student exchanges will be provided by the upcoming Joint Training Agreement for the Masters of Public Health and Agreement of “3+1” Undergraduate-Postgraduate Program of Engineering. It is expected that both sides further  explore diversifying forms and enrich contents of cooperation on the present basis.  

Erik Lithander then made a speech on behalf of The University of Bristol. He mentioned that The University of Bristol and HUST are two well-known comprehensive universities in both countries, and that there is great potential of cooperation in many fields. He also spoke of his expectations regarding further cooperation between the two universities focusing on student-to-student exchange and joint training of doctoral students. Moreover, he expressed that he was looking forward to realizing exchange visits between the two universities as soon as possible once the pandemic subsides to discuss further steps to push ahead with the cooperation.

Later, representatives from the bilateral Offices of International Affairs and the relevant departments exchanged ideas on cooperation. Xiaopin Miao, the Vice Dean of the School of Public Health, Jianfeng Xu, the Vice Dean of the School of Mechanical and Engineering, Wenzhong Lv, the Vice Dean of the School of Optical and Electronic Engineering from HUST , and Liang-Fong Wong, the International Office Director of the Faculty of Health Sciences, and Fabrizio Scarpa, the International Office Director of the Faculty of Engineering Department from The University of Bristol introduced their departments respectively, and proposed initiatives and details for cooperation based upon their own requirements. All parties agreed to further strengthen the exchange and cooperation through online academic forums, joint application of scientific research projects and joint training of graduate students.

At the end of the meeting, Chen Jianguo and Erik Lithander signed the Joint Training Agreement for Masters in Public Health and the“3+1” Undergraduate-Postgraduate Program of Engineering, marking the advancement of the cooperative partnership between the two universities.

Written by: Li Ruiyao

Edited by: Ma Shengyuan, Andrew, Peng Yumeng