The delegation under the leadership of Zuo Wei, Secretary of the Party Committee of Southeast University, visited three schools and attended the unveiling ceremony of Rennes Graduate School of Southeast University from May 15 to 23 at the invitation of Presidents of Czech Technical University in Prague, Budapest University of Technology and Economics and Université de Rennes 1 in France. The delegation was accompanied by Principals of the Graduate School, the School of Computer Science and the International Cooperation Department during the visit.
During the visit, President Vojtěch Petráček and Vice President Zbyněk Škvor, etc. met the delegation and extended their welcome to the delegation of Southeast University. During the talks, leader of the Czech Republic introduced basic conditions, scientific researches and achievements of Czech Technical University in Prague; he also mentioned that the word “robot”was derived from the Czech Republic, and the informatics and robotics have become the main sources of research output of Czech Technical University in Prague. At the university, Secretary Zuo Wei expressed his gratitude to President Vojtěch Petráček for his welcome. He stated that Southeast University and Czech Technical University in Prague have many similarities in terms of the research field and specialty. Both universities regarded internationalization as one of their important development strategies. With unceasingly deepened understandings, both parties can broaden their areas of cooperation, such as collaborative research on high-tech such as intelligent manufacturing, combined cultivation of students in the field of basic researches such as mathematics and physics, and mutual visit and cooperation among teachers, and sincerely welcome students from Czech Technical University in Prague to visit Southeast University for exchanges. President Vojtěch Petráček agreed with Secretary Zuo Wei and expressed his expectations for the future cooperation. After the conversation, both parties signed an agreement on student exchanges between both universities. Czech Technical University in Prague is the most ancient polytechnic university in Central Europe and also the university of its kind that represents the highest level in science and technology. With over 23,000 students, Czech Technical University in Prague has eight academic departments and six research institutes. Besides, the university features long history of cutting-edge science and engineering. Under the leadership of many great scientists, it highlights high-quality teaching level and has maintained close cooperation with many multinational companies, including Toyota, General Electric, Siemens, Bosch, Skoda and China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC), etc.
During the visit of Budapest University of Technology and Economics in Hungary, President János Józsa and Vice President KrisztinaLászló in charge of international affairs met the delegation. During the talks, Secretary Zuo Wei briefly introduced the basic conditions of Southeast University and stated that a group of top universities in China have been committed to promoting internationalization and they would much expect mutual exchange of undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students, and substantial cooperation among professors in the future. Indicated by President János Józsa, both parties had many similar advantageous fields and could cooperate in information technology and electrical engineering, etc.; besides, both parties could also achieve mutual supplementations in other fields. Afterwards both parties exchanged ideas on the future development of artificial intelligence and unanimously agreed that they can draft a memorandum of understanding (MOU) and select several key areas to initiate the cooperation, on which basis, to further deepen the exchange of students and the cooperation of teachers between both schools. Budapest University of Technology and Economics in Hungary, as a public comprehensive university highlighting great historic significance and representativeness in Central Europe, features senior faculty and abundant level of scientific research. It has once cultivated three Nobel Prize winners in Physics and Chemistry. At present, the school has more than 21,000 students in 8 colleges and more than 110 departments covering architecture, chemical engineering, architectural engineering, electronics and information engineering, mechanical engineering, natural science, economics and social sciences, etc..
During the visit to Hungary, the delegation of Zuo Wei also visited the Chinese Embassy in Hungary. Duan Jielong, Chinese Ambassador in Hungary met the delegation. Ambassador Duan Jielong also stated that universities in Hungary attached great importance to and actively promoted cooperation with Chinese colleges and universities; and they greatly welcomed such top-ranking domestic universities as Southeast University to visit Hungary for exchanges. The embassy and the Education Department would be very eager to provide assistance in such exchanges and cooperation between universities from both countries.
On May 22, the unveiling ceremony of Rennes Graduate School of Southeast University was held at Université de Rennes 1 in France. David Alis, President of Université de Rennes 1 in France, presided over the ceremony. As indicated by President David Alis, this unveiling ceremony has been strongly supported by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It was a major event in the cultural exchanges between China and France and also a major event that combined advantageous education resources of China and France. Secretary Zuo Wei expressed his warm congratulations on the establishment of the Graduate School on behalf of Southeast University and mentioned in his speech that the cooperation between the Southeast University and Université de Rennes 1 in France began in 1989 and both schools, with cooperation in scientific research as the mainline and the combined cultivation of graduate students as the carrier, have established continuous, stable and friendly academic cooperation relationship with mutual supplementation and complementation in terms of scientific research and teaching after close cooperation for almost 30 years. And abundant cooperation achievements have been made as a result.The unveiling and establishment of Rennes Graduate School of Southeast University represent a new platform and a new starting point for deepening the cooperation and exchange between the two universities. The two universities will utilize Rennes Graduate School of Southeast University as a carrier to establish an interdisciplinary learning and exchange platform for teachers and graduate students of both parties through high-level talent training. Based on such platform, both parties will be dedicated themselves to developing Rennes Graduate School of Southeast University to a cultivation and exchange highland of top talents. The establishment of Rennes Graduate School of Southeast University will promote the cooperation between Southeast University and such research institutes as Institut National de La Sante et de La Recherche Medicale (INSERM), Centre National de La Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and Institut National de Recherche En Informatique et En Automatique (INRIA). This will be more conducive to give a full play to the advantages of the two universities and the experience of cultivating overseas students, attract more students from France and other countries to study in China, create an international learning environment, promote the mutual exchanges and friendship between young people from China, France and Central Europe, and thus enable Rennes Graduate School of Southeast University to become the model of cooperation between Sino-European universities.
Secretary Zuo Wei also talked with David Alis, President of Université de Rennes 1 in France before the unveiling ceremony. As indicated by President David Alis, Université de Rennes 1 in France may screen and send 20-30 graduate students annually to Southeast University to study for one year. Both parties unanimously agreed to broaden the scope of cooperation and explore the opportunities of cooperation in mathematics and computer applications, etc.. Afterwards both parties renewed the agreement on jointly building the International Joint Research Laboratory of Sino-France Biomedical Information Research Center, which would gather advantageous resources from Southeast University, Université de Rennes 1 in France and the Institut National de La Sante et de La Recherche Medicale (INSERM), and further promote cooperation among three parties. The delegation also visited IRISA and listened to the report delivered by Director Jean-Marc JEZEQUEL of IRISA on relevant researches.
During the visit to France, the delegation of Secretary Zuo Wei also met with Ms. Isabelle Pellerin, Vice Mayor in charge of higher education, scientific research and innovation in Rennes. Ms. Isabelle Pellerin firstly congratulated Rennes Graduate School of Southeast University on its unveiling and stated that it was exactly the fruitful cooperation between Rennes in Brittany Region and Jiangsu Province in higher education that enabled people of both parties, especially the younger generation, to understand the cultures of both China and France in a deeper manner. The establishment of such relationship would also achieve more long-lasting cooperation between both countries in economy, culture and education with more profound influences.
