University of Sheffield to be UK Partner in Joint Institute in China

22nd September 2016

Ministry of Education in China approves Joint Institute in Nanjing with the University of Sheffield.

Signing ceremony took place in Suzhou in the presence of Jo Johnson, Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation. Programmes will see staff from Sheffield, a world top 100 and UK Russell Group university, teach students in their home country. Courses now to be offered in Chemistry, Financial Mathematics and Materials Physics, with further developments planned. The Ministry of Education in China has given approval for the University of Sheffield and Nanjing Tech University in China to open a Joint Institute. The centre, which will be based in Nanjing, will see its first cohort of students arriving in September 2017 to start studying for degree programmes in Chemistry, Financial Mathematics and Materials Physics. Currently, the institutions work together to allow students to transfer to the University of Sheffield for their final year in these areas. However, the Joint Institute will allow students to gain a Sheffield degree without leaving China as they will be taught by Sheffield staff in Nanjing. Students will still be able to transfer between the campuses should they wish to gain experience in Sheffield. In addition, the Joint Institute will seek to develop PhD collaborations as well as joint research initiatives, starting with Green Chemistry. While many existing collaborations between UK and Chinese universities concentrate on business and engineering courses, the University of Sheffield and Nanjing Tech University are leading the way in developing such a comprehensive base for collaboration in science. Professor Sir Keith Burnett, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield, said: -I am delighted that the Ministry of Education in China has given approval for the establishment of the Nanjing Tech-University of Sheffield Joint Institute. It will play a vital role in meeting the needs of both nations for outstanding science graduates able to understand and work effectively together in the UK and China. -The Joint Institute will create a large cohort of graduates who have been taught in both the Western and Eastern traditions, forging links between our countries for the future in these very important areas. At the same time we will be able to build on the University of Sheffield's already significant success in high-impact research collaboration in China, in particular in such vital areas as sustainable energy and food, health and other challenges which require the talents of both nations. Academician President Huang Wei from Nanjing Tech University commented: -We are delighted to strengthen our partnership with the University of Sheffield by means of establishing a Joint Institute, which will become a platform that not only offers world-class teaching and research opportunities for students in China as well as other countries, but also promotes knowledge exchange between young talents and scholars of our two countries, bringing benefit to China, Britain and the rest of the world." Professor Alistair Warren, Faculty Director of Learning and Teaching in the Faculty of Science at the University of Sheffield, said: -The Joint Institute builds on and extends our successful collaboration where students from Nanjing Tech University study in China but transfer to Sheffield for the final year of their undergraduate degrees in the departments of Chemistry, Physics and Astronomy, and the School of Mathematics and Statistics. "The Joint Institute represents a great opportunity for further postgraduate study in each University and provides significant links for both education and research."