The University of Aberdeen has established a new international partnership with the China Scholarship Council to provide PhD training for China’s most talented and qualified students.
The goal of the joint venture will be to foster academic exchange and research collaboration between Chinese scholars and institutions.
The pilot, joint-doctoral programme, which commenced in October last year, involves the training of highly qualified Chinese students to doctoral level at the University of Aberdeen.
Professor Dominic Houlihan, the University’s Vice-Principal for Research and Commercialisation, who helped to establish the scheme, said: “This joint programme is set to make a significant contribution to academic quality here at the University of Aberdeen, as well as to the future development of China.
“We are delighted to welcome the students to Aberdeen and we look forward to working with them. These students have worked extremely hard to secure their scholarship and all have very high academic reputations in their respective Chinese universities.”
The China Scholarship Council, who are providing travel and living expenses for the students, and the University of Aberdeen, are jointly financing the students’ places.
In October 2005, the University accepted 10 students across the three Colleges: Arts and Social Sciences, Life Sciences and Medicine, and Physical Sciences, while the 2006 intake remains at 10 students.
Computing Science student, Wei Pang, comes to Aberdeen from the prestigious Jilin University. He has secured a PhD placement in the Department of Computing Science and said there were numerous reasons why he wanted to study in the Granite City. He said: “I had heard a lot about Aberdeen and I knew it was the oil capital of Europe, as well as being a beautiful harbour city.
“I was intrigued by the University’s long history and the fact that four of its researchers have won the Nobel Prize. I’m looking forward to developing my academic knowledge and expertise in Computing Science, which is where my main research interests lie.”
Another student to arrive in Aberdeen as part of the joint scholarship fund is Wu Yu, who is studying international economic law. She came to Aberdeen from the prestigious Southwest Jiatong University where she worked her way up the academic rank to the position of Lecturer in the Department of Law.
Liu Yu came to Aberdeen from Xi’an jiaotong University, in the north-west of China. She specialises in cardiovascular diseases, in particular atherosclerosis – a slow, progressive disease that affects the arteries of the heart – and is based within the College of Life Sciences and Medicine.
She said: “I feel lucky to be a PhD student in the Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Aberdeen and I hope I can learn more modern molecular biology techniques and develop ideas on how to perform the scientific research work.”
Dong Pingrong is taking time out of his post as a Lecturer and Assistant Dean of the College of Foreign Languages at the Chongqing University of China to take on PhD study on English Sociolinguistics at Aberdeen.
He said: “Since I major in English Sociolinguistics, this joint scholarship provides me with a golden opportunity to study and live in a real British environment, which contributes greatly to my study. I’m very grateful to have been given this chance to study in Aberdeen.”
Wei Zhou, Project Officer with the China Scholarship Council, said: “The educational collaboration between the University of Aberdeen and CSC at PhD level has made it possible to create opportunities for Chinese students to conduct academic research under the supervision of the University faculties.
“Following the success of the initiative in 2005, the CSC appreciates that the University of Aberdeen has done much to receive our students and help them develop in ability. We hope that our partnership with Aberdeen will continue to further contribute to the internationalisation of higher education in China and the UK.”
· The University of Aberdeen’s International Office is a part of the Student Recruitment & Admissions Service (SRAS) who are an experienced and friendly team, ready to tell prospective students everything they want to know about studying at the University. The International Office has a worldwide network of carefully chosen agents who talk to prospective students about higher education in general and offer help with any visa issues students may have.
· For further information about studying at the University of Aberdeen, contact SRAS on (01224) 272090/91 or email: sras@abdn.ac.uk