On September 9, a delegation of four from Swansea University, UK, led by Vice-Chancellor Paul Boyle and including Joanne Hopkins, Director of International Recruitment and Relations, visited Harbin Engineering University (HEU).

Vice President YU Zhiwen extended a warm welcome to the delegation and provided a brief overview of the collaborative history and key achievements between the two universities. He emphasized that the productive cooperation in areas such as talent development, faculty and student exchanges, and cultural interaction has provided valuable opportunities for mutual learning. He expressed hope that both sides would broaden the scope of collaboration, deepen engagement, explore new models for joint talent cultivation, and open a new chapter in bilateral relations.

Paul Boyle remarked that the joint educational programs run by both universities have served as an essential platform for cultivating students’ global perspective and cross-cultural competencies. He expressed a desire to strengthen mutual learning and exchange, enhance the quality and level of collaboration, further deepen and broaden faculty and student interactions, promote efficient sharing of academic resources, and pool wisdom and efforts to jointly contribute to addressing global challenges.

Established in 1920, Swansea University is one of the 29 earliest public universities in the UK. It is renowned for its excellence in teaching and research, boasting a top-ten engineering school in the country and serving as a key hub for scientific research. HEU and Swansea University have been cooperating since 2013. The collaboration was approved to transition to a “3+1” dual-degree model in 2022, and to expand enrollment in 2025. This partnership has effectively enhanced the international talent cultivation capabilities of relevant disciplines at our university, facilitated academic and research exchanges, and laid a solid foundation for further expanding and deepening cooperation.