On November 23rd, HUST and the University of Birmingham held an online signing ceremony, whereby the two parties, being close partners for 18 years, signed the key partnership agreement and renewed the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Nursing and Stomatology. You Zheng, President of HUST, Chen Jianguo, Vice President of HUST, David Eastwood, President of the University of Birmingham, Jon Frampton, Executive Vice President of UoB attended the meeting. Chen Jie, Director of the Office of International Affairs presided over the signing ceremony.

Participants from HUST

Participants from the University of Birmingham

Addressing the meeting, You Zheng said that he is pleased to see that the two schools have launched a dual-degree joint training program, and are further exploring cooperation in school administration. He called on the two schools to deepen their cooperation through openness and mutual learning, thus making a greater contribution to scientific development and human progress.

In his speech, David Eastwood recalled the fruitful results of the two sides in scientific research and student training since signing the Memorandum of Cooperation in 2003. He commended the two universities for their cooperation in various forms, gaving his support for the upcoming cooperation in administering the schools. Calling the current cooperation "the tip of the iceberg", he noted that the agreement signed is a giant step forward and urged greater efforts for future cooperation.

Following the speeches, Chen Jianguo issued the letter of appointment of visiting professor to Professor Chris Tselepis, Dean of the School of Biomedical Sciences, UoB.

Following this, You Zheng and David Eastwood signed the "One University Ten Schools" Strategic Core Partnership Agreement, and renewed the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Nursing and Stomatology.

In the strategic dialogue session, representatives from both parties put forward proposals for expanding future cooperation, such as introducing courses from UoB to HUST, and strengthening academic exchanges on stomatology.

Following the meeting, Chen and Frampton made concluding remarks, calling for broader connections concerning public health, big data health and informatics, as well as more events including bilateral forums and online university days.

After the ceremony, Professor Chris Tselepis gave a lecture to teachers and students of Tongji Medical College, in which he introduced his team’s research on the key molecular driving factors and treatment methods of colorectal cancer.

The Key Partnership Initiative, proposed by HUST, is expected to promote sustainable exchanges on talent training, scientific research, and people-to-people exchanges with partner colleges.

Written by: Zhang Shizhe

Edited by: Ye Jingyi, Scott, Peng Yumeng