On July 7, a delegation of four from Bournemouth University, UK, including President Alison Honour, Dean of Global Engagement and Strategic Partnerships Aboubakr Fathalla, Head of School of Science and Technology Christos Gkatzidis, and Head of School of Computing and Engineering Jiang Nan, visited our university for friendly exchanges. President Lian Jijian warmly welcomed the guests, with Vice President Wang Tie attending the reception and a professional cooperation exchange meeting.

On behalf of the university, Lian Jijian welcomed the guests and reviewed the deep friendship of international exchange and cooperation between the two universities, giving a detailed account of the achievements our university has made in recent years in discipline development, scientific and technological innovation, international exchange and cooperation, and other areas. He expressed the hope to continue consolidating and strengthening the outcomes of educational internationalization cooperation with Bournemouth University in the UK, and to actively explore new opportunities for international exchanges and cooperation based on the distinctive characteristics of both institutions’ academic programs.

President Alison Honour said that the two universities have a solid foundation for cooperation, and the school’s fields of computer animation production, visual technology, mechanical engineering and robotics are highly aligned with the disciplinary layout of Tianjin University of Technology. Since taking office last year she has attached great importance to international cooperation with TUT and has developed a specific work plan at the institutional level, hoping the two schools can establish a cooperative platform in areas such as sharing high-quality educational resources, innovating talent training models, building an international faculty team, and enhancing the level of discipline development.

The presidents of both universities engaged in multi-dimensional exchanges and discussions on the future development plans of both schools, as well as on strengthening and consolidating international education and the interchange of research resources, and on establishing cooperative educational institutions. During the professional reporting and exchange activities, faculty representatives from the relevant colleges introduced the basic conditions of their respective units to the guests and communicated with them about cooperative education, faculty and student exchanges, and the construction of research platforms.

The delegation visited our university’s Analysis and Testing Center, STAOF Advanced Research Institute, School of Computer Science and Engineering, School of Arts, School of Environmental Science and Safety Engineering, and other facilities. They also visited the university gymnasium, student cafeteria, and Woodcarving Museum. President Alison Honour said that seeing the university's excellent educational environment and hardware and software facilities further convinced her that the two universities can continue to strengthen cooperation in areas such as joint cultivation of graduate students, raising the level of scientific research collaboration, and building platforms for faculty and student exchanges, thereby deepening international education and research cooperation between the two universities.

Bournemouth University (BU) is a well-known public university in the UK. The university won the Queen’s Anniversary Prize twice, awarded by the British government to recognize pioneering higher education institutions in teaching, in 1994 and 2011. Its strong disciplines include: animation, media production, tourism and hospitality management, sports management, and business. The university hosts key research centers including the Centre for Excellence in Media Practice (CEMP), the only such center designated by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, and the National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA), are renowned worldwide.

Responsible officials from the School of Mechanical Engineering, the School of Science, the School of Environmental Science and Safety Engineering, the School of Computer Science and Engineering, the School of Arts, the School of Language and Culture, as well as from units such as the International Exchange Office, the Academic Affairs Office, the Office of Discipline Construction, the Graduate School, and the Admissions Office participated in the event and accompanied the guests on their visit.