Nanjing University Leaders Attend 28th Annual APRU Presidents’ Meeting in Oceania

From June 24 to 29, 2024, Vice President Lu Yanqing of Nanjing University led a delegation to visit New Zealand and Australia to attend the 28th Annual Presidents’ Meeting of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities, and to promote cooperation between our university and world-renowned universities and research institutions such as the University of Auckland, the University of New South Wales, the University of Sydney, the University of Melbourne, and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. Our delegation visited Oceania on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership between China and New Zealand and China and Australia, contributing to the promotion of higher education cooperation and cultural exchanges with the two countries.

From June 24 to 26, the 28th Annual Presidents’ Meeting of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) was held at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. More than 50 presidents and representatives from the Pacific Rim region attended the meeting. The theme of this meeting was “Oceans: the World’s Challenges Divide Us, the Ocean Currents Connect Us”, and the important role played by APRU in addressing global climate change was discussed. Vice President Lu Yanqing and his delegation were invited to attend the meeting on behalf of Nanjing University, and had extensive exchanges on promoting talent training and scientific research cooperation with APRU Council Chairman and President of the Chinese University of Hong Kong Rocky Tuan, APRU Council Vice Chairman and President of the University of Auckland Dawn Freshwater, President of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Nancy Ip, Executive Vice President of Tohoku University Toshiya Ueki, Vice President of the University of Oregon Dennis Galvan, Vice President of Pohang University of Science and Technology Sung-Min Park, and APRU Secretary-General Professor Thomas Schneider. During the meeting, the delegation also visited the New Market campus of the University of Auckland, toured the creative design and manufacturing laboratory, and learned about the university’s experience in building innovation clusters.

On the morning of June 27, the delegation visited the University of New South Wales. Lu Yanqing met with Dane McCamey, the vice president of research at the university. The two sides had an in-depth discussion on promoting cooperation in the field of climate change. The Secretariat of the International University Climate Alliance (IUCA) and the academic director Matthew England attended the meeting. Dane McCamey said that the University of New South Wales has always attached great importance to its partnership with Chinese universities. The two universities have the same goal in addressing global issues. NCU has world-renowned scientific research strength in the fields of climate change and earth system science. He hopes to work with NCU to carry out pragmatic cooperation in areas such as carbon emission reduction. Lu Yanqing introduced the school’s achievements in recent years, especially the development of the Suzhou campus. He said that the university hopes to promote exchanges between teachers and students through the newly launched international visiting scholar program and the Yangtze River Delta International Research Project for Young Scientists, and build a cooperation platform in important fields such as climate change. Wang Haikun, vice president of NCU College, introduced the school’s philosophy of running NCU College and said that it will continue to promote cooperation through co-hosting seminars under the framework of IUCA. After the meeting, the delegation of our university also visited the school’s life science teaching facilities and the Ramaciotti Genomics Center.

That afternoon, the delegation visited the University of Sydney. Lu Yanqing met with Katherine Belov, the Vice President of International Affairs and Research of the University. The two sides discussed the prospects for cooperation in the fields of chemistry, physics, environment, atmosphere, life sciences, etc., with diversified forms of student training and joint scientific research. Katherine Belov said that the two universities are APRU allies, and in the future they can cooperate in the fields of biodiversity and sustainable development through the APRU platform, and encourage scholars from both sides to conduct dialogue and exchanges with the goal of solving common global problems. Lu Yanqing introduced the layout of engineering disciplines of our university and the scientific research achievements in recent years, saying that NTU and the University of Sydney have a good cooperation foundation and common scientific research interests, and have carried out fruitful cooperation in the fields of chemistry and astronomy. He hopes to restore the cooperation mechanism in the future through measures such as the NTU International Visiting Scholars Program, and explore practical cooperation models including jointly holding academic seminars, supporting scholars to visit each other, and innovating student mobility channels.

On the morning of June 28, Lu Yanqing and his delegation visited the University of Melbourne and held talks with the university’s Dean of Academic Affairs Nicola Phillips, Executive Vice President Mark Cassidy and Vice President Adrian Little. Lu Yanqing and Nicola Phillips reviewed the cooperation achievements of the two universities in talent training and many scientific research fields over the past 24 years. The two sides also conducted in-depth discussions on enhancing teacher-student exchanges in the fields of life sciences, environment, humanities, climate change, etc., and renewed the memorandum of cooperation and student exchange agreement on behalf of the two universities. Representatives of the two universities also held parallel talks on topics such as joint scientific research funds, environment, life sciences, Chinese language education, and atmosphere.

The delegation also visited the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) on the afternoon of June 28 and held talks with Alan Cowman, deputy director of the institute. The two sides reached a consensus on strengthening cooperation at the China-Australia Translational Medicine Center of Nanjing University and the Nanjing China-Australia Translational Medicine Research Institute based on the results of scientific research cooperation and exchange, student training and the establishment of scientific research platforms, and on exploring the establishment of a talent training mechanism with more sustainable development potential.

After the meeting, the delegation had a cordial discussion with alumni of our university who work and study at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research and the University of Melbourne. The alumni said that the training of NTU has laid a solid foundation for their future scientific research. Lu Yanqing encouraged everyone to continue their studies, grow into scholars leading the frontier scientific fields, and tell the story of NTU well internationally. In addition, Vice President Lu Yanqing and his delegation also exchanged views with the Nanjing University Melbourne Alumni Association.

The leaders and representatives of our school’s Internationalization Office, School of Life Sciences, Nanhe College, and School of Overseas Education accompanied the visit.