UCL welcomes Chinese Ministry of Education and Vice-Presidential delegation

UCL welcomed a high-profile delegation from the Chinese Ministry of Education and Vice Presidents from 22 different Chinese institutions as part of a global tour to observe leading institutions' ways of working.

Organised by the National Academy of Education Administration in China, the delegation is one of six currently visiting organisations across the world.

Following the visit, which took place between 31 May and 1 June, the UCL delegation will be travelling to a number of universities across the UK. 

Insight into academic excellence

Among the delegation at UCL were various senior figures from China’s education sector. These included Huang Xingsheng, Deputy Director General of the General Office of Ministry of Education and Jiao Jiangfang, Division Director at the Department of Teacher Education.

The two-day tour opened with a welcome talk from Katharine Carruthers, Pro-Vice Provost (East Asia) and Director of the UCL IOE Confucius Institute.

She said: “It was a pleasure to welcome representatives from so many Chinese institutions to UCL. Over the course of their two days here, we hope to have given the group a valuable insight into the incredible work that goes on at London’s Global University – everywhere from its academic excellence to its active public engagement.”

Bloomsbury to Here East

During the visit, the group met with Dr Chen-Yu Chang, Senior Lecturer at the Bartlett School of Construction & Project Management, who provided the group with a first-hand account of working as an academic at UCL.

They also heard from senior representatives from areas including UCL’s Culture & Public Engagement and Innovation & Enterprise. 

The schedule included a visit to UCL at Here East - UCL's new space at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in East London and a collaboration between The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment and the Faculty of Engineering Science. 

The group also went on a walking tour of UCL’s Bloomsbury campus, Confucius Institute and the School of Management at Canary Wharf.

UCL-China collaborations

Last week’s delegation followed the recent announcement of the recipients of this year’s UCL-PKU Strategic Partnership Funds winners. Awarded to UCL academics collaborating with colleagues based at PKU, this annual funding opportunity is a further example of UCL’s ongoing collaborations with Chinese institutions.

• Find out more about UCL’s activity in China