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REPRESENTATIVES FROM CHINESE UNIVERSITIES VISIT BUCKINGHAM

People outside the Clore Laboratory in the rain

The visitors and Buckingham staff outside the Clore Laboratory

Wednesday 26 August 2009

Senior academic representatives from Chinese universities in the Nankai and Tianjin regions were welcomed by the International Office to the University of Buckingham for a day's conference on The Challenges and Success of the Independent University. The Vice-Chancellors, Vice-Presidents, Deans and Directors were in the UK as part of a 10-week Leadership and Management Programme arranged through the University of Leeds.

The delegates were formally welcomed by Professor John Clarke, Secretary to Council and Professor of History, who then led an intensive question and answer session on the management of the University, and the rationale behind the 2-year honours degree programme. Gifts were presented to the University and reciprocally to the delegation leader, Mr Shu Gequn, Vice-President of Tianjin University.

The formal presentations and discussions were then led by the University's International Manager, Lucinda Roberts-Holmes, who expanded on how freedom from government control allows for a student-focused, academic-led university that produces highly employable, confident graduates.

The latter part of the day saw the delegation addressed by Professor Mike Cawthorne, Dean of Sciences and Director of the Clore Laboratory Centre for Metabolic Research, on the alarming rise in Type 2 Diabetes, particularly prevalent in certain parts of China. Research currently being undertaken at the Centre includes how plant-based drugs, such as traditional Chinese medicines, can be used to assist in the prevention and treatment of the disease.

The University of Buckingham is looking forward to building stronger links with the visiting institutions. Those present were: Tianjin University, Nankai University, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin Polytechnic University, Civil Aviation University of China, Tianjin University of Technology and Education, Tianjin Institute of Urban Construction, Tianjin Municipal Education & Health Working Commission, Tianjin Municipal Education Commission and Tianjin Foreign Studies University.

Report by the Web Team