A delegation from NNU visited universities in Ireland and Finland
From October 10th to 16th, 2018, a delegation led by NNU President Guoxiang Chen paid their first visits to four universities in Ireland and Finland and signed cooperation agreements with the three in Ireland. This was a working visit with the intent to strengthen educational cooperation and exchange with European universities.
During their stay in Ireland, the delegation visited Trinity College Dublin, the University of Limerick (UL), and the University College Cork (UCC).
Founded in 1592, Trinity College Dublin is recognized internationally as Ireland’s premier university and ranked 104 in Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings 2019. President Chen met with Juliette Hussey, Vice-President for Global Relations, and signed cooperation agreements that will allow the two sides to conduct an exchange program for 15 students each year as well as a teacher exchange and cooperation program. Last year, NNU sent a group of students majoring in life sciences to Trinity College Dublin for a semester.
UL is a five-star university based on the QS Star Rating System and ranked 511-520 in QS World University Rankings 2019. Its Kemmy Business School is one of the Europe’s top 10 business schools. President Chen met with UL’s counterpart, Dr. Des Fitzgerald, and signed cooperation agreements meant to strengthen close cooperation and promote international education exchanges. The delegation held talks with the dean of Education & Health Sciences and the director for China Programs about the joint-training programs.
UCC has also been recognized as a five-star university based on the (QS) Star Rating System and ranked 338 in QS World University Rankings 2019. Its food science ranked in the top 5 and medicine and pharmacy in the top 50 globally. At UCC, President Chen met with the deputy president and registrar John O’Halloran and signed a memorandum on academic cooperation. Both sides agreed to cooperate in terms of teacher and student exchange programs, and research. Later on, the delegation talked with the dean of the School of Food and Nutritional Sciences and then visited the Confucius Institute together. Declan Daly, the divisional manager (south) of County Cork, which is the Jiangsu Province’s sister province, and John Forde, Senior Engineer, Cork County Council met with President Chen and expressed the hope of further strengthening cooperation.
The University of Oulu, ranked 376 in QS World University Rankings 2019, is the second largest university in Finland, and one of the members of Links to Asia by Organizing Traineeship and Student Exchange (LAOTSE). At the University of Oulu, President Chen met with its counterpart, Jouko Niinimäki. Both sides acknowledged the formerly established partnership between the two universities and looked forward to further strengthening cooperation to carry out joint-training programs in the fields of life science and computer science. After that, the delegation from NNU received an introduction to the specific exchange programs made by the relevant persons in charge, and had in-depth communication about these programs and other ways of cooperation. In 2017, NNU sent students majoring in computer science to this university for a semester.