Vice-Chancellor's first visit to China

The Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Sydney, Professor Mark Scott recently made his first trip to China. The visit recognises the long and close relationship between the University of Sydney and China and was aimed at consolidating existing academic and educational collaborations and exploring new avenues for cooperation.

“It was a pleasure to engage in important and deep conversations with academics, senior leaders and high-ranking officials, focusing on ways to strengthen research collaborations and to support the student experience in both our countries,” said Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Mark Scott.

“The trip was a great opportunity to exchange ideas and opinions with partner universities on topics including sustainability, educational innovation, and fostering international research partnerships.”

The Vice-Chancellor held separate discussions with the Ministry of Education and with the Chinese Scholarship Council, which funds Chinese citizens and residents to study abroad and foreign students and scholars to study in China. The University of Sydney and the Council’s continuing joint scholarship program commenced in 2015 and was officially renewed at this meeting. 

In Shanghai, Professor Scott visited the Handan Campus of Fudan University, one of the University’s key Chinese partners. A partnership agreement signed in 2019 provides funding for joint research and educational projects including the flagship Brain and Intelligence Science Alliance; two major seed-fund programs support eight joint projects including studies in computing neuroscience, neural networks, sleep and cognition impairment. 

The Vice-Chancellor also attended the opening of a new University office in Shanghai. This office is an offshoot of our Centre in China in Suzhou, which opened in 2016 and was our first such offshore site. It is is an interdisciplinary and intercultural research and education incubator designed to support intellectual and creative exchange between Australian and Chinese researchers, academics, students, and alumni.

“I believe the increased collaboration this new office in Shanghai makes possible will not only benefit individual institutions but also contribute to a broader landscape of international education and research excellence,” Professor Scott said. 

The Vice-Chancellor spoke at two major events in Hong Kong – the Times Higher Education Asia Universities Summit and the Association of Pacific Rim Universities Annual Presidents Meeting.The University of Hong Kong signed a memorandum of understanding with the University of Sydney and Fudan University to collaborate on sustainability and carbon neutrality initiatives.

 The Vice-Chancellor also hosted a gathering of alumni in Beijing. The University now has 80,000 alumni across China. 

“At the University of Sydney, our alumni continue to be a part of our community, long after graduation. It was wonderful to meet some of our alumni and share stories about our time as students at Sydney,” said Professor Scott, who is himself an alumnus of the University. 

“Delightfully, a distinguished professor revealed he is naming his new company Newtown Technologies – after the suburb close to the Camperdown campus where he spent so much happy time as a student.”

“Every year, we welcome students from all corners of the globe to our campus including a great cohort from China. We’re glad to see so many Chinese international students coming back to Sydney this year, and we’re always proud to see thousands of Chinese alumni shining in their fields after their graduation, in China, Australia, and other places in the world."