On the afternoon of October 26th, Huazhong University of Science and Technology and the University of Western Australia held an online signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding, during which the two institutions reaffirmed their commitment to each other and discussed methods for better cooperation in the future. Chen Jianguo, Vice President of HUST, and Tayyeb Shah, Vice President of International Affairs for UWA, attended the ceremony and signed the agreement. Representatives from the Office of International Affairs, School of Management and School of Physics of the two universities participated.

Tayyeb Shah, Vice President of International Affairs for UWA, made an opening speech. UWA attached great importance to their collaboration with Chinese universities and he spoke highly of the achievements resulted from the research cooperation, academic exchange and student joint-degree program between UWA and HUST. With the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, the two universities have established a profound and solid cooperative relationship which will further promote cooperation across all areas to realize mutual beneficial results.. Mr. Shah also extended his sincere hope that the two universities would enjoy reciprocal visits and face-to-face dialogues after the epidemic.

In his speech, Chen Jianguo pointed out that UWA is one of the most reliable and sincere partners of HUST. With much common ground and mutual gains, both universities are actively contributing to solving global challenges. Over the years, bilateral relations have been developing smoothly and the results are evident in the success of the cooperative programs. Together, the two universities have provided sufficient support and abundant resources for students’ learning and teachers’ research on a global level. It is hoped that in the future, based on the current cooperation, both sides can continue to promote higher level academic and educational exchanges for an even better relationship.

Subsequently, representatives from the Office of International Affairs, School of Management and School of Physics of HUST introduced the inter-university collaborations, the 1+1 Master program of Professional Accounting and the academic collaborations in physics respectively. During the discussion, Chen Jie, Director of the Office of International Affairs of HUST, Li Jianbin, Vice Dean of the School of Management of HUST, Cai Jianming, Vice Dean of the School of Physics of HUST, Professor Lu Zehuang of HUST, Nick Letch, Vice Dean of the Business School of UWA, Jingbo Wang, Dean of the Department of Physics of UWA, Michael Tobar, Professor of the Center of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems and ARC Australian Laureate Fellow exchanged ideas on future cooperation.

At the end of the ceremony, Chen Jianguo and Tayyeb Shah, signed the "Memorandum of Understanding between Huazhong University of Science and Technology and the University of Western Australia" through video link.

The University of Western Australia (UWA), founded in 1911, is one of world's leading universities and part of the Group of Eight (a coalition of top research universities in Australia). It ranks 79th in the 2021 U.S. News & World Report of Best Global Universities Rankings. HUST signed the first cooperation agreement with the university in 1989. In recent years, academic exchanges in fields including Physics, Management, and Medicine have deepened, and the Master of Professional Accounting 1+1 double degree was established in 2018.

Written by: Feng Ruiping

Edited by: Li Peishan, Andrew, Peng Yumeng