August 2016 Chinese Culture Takes Central Stage at NUI Galway Ahead of Education Expo in October

Highlighting the important partnership between NUI Galway and Tsinghua University, a concert took place on campus this week, with Dr Yue Xiaoyong, Chinese Ambassador to Ireland, as special guest.

The lunchtime event, attended by over 200 guests, featured the Tsinghua University Symphony Orchestra and visiting students from the University. Fresh from a performance in the Black Box over the weekend, the students danced and performed in traditional dress.

One of Asia’s leading universities, Tsinghua University has a longstanding tradition of co-operation in teaching and research with NUI Galway. This was formalised in December 2014 with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding witnessed by President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, and President of China, Xi Jinping, both alumni of NUI Galway and Tsinghua respectively.

The concert coincided with the visit by Tsinghua Vice-Chancellor SHI Zongkai, Vice Chairperson of University Council, who was on campus for a series of strategic meetings with NUI Galway administrators and academics, including University President, Dr Jim Browne. This annual meeting, known as Tsinghua-NUI Galway Day is now a feature of the collaboration and sees senior academics from both institutions briefing each other on research developments and planning their programme of collaboration.

Dr Browne commented: “It was a great honour to welcome our colleagues from Tsinghua University in the presence of His Excellency Ambassador Yue. Our strong ties with a range of Chinese universities greatly benefit and support research collaborations, as well as student and academic exchanges. NUI Galway also has a growing network of graduates in China and this plays an important role in reinforcing our research links with some of China’s leading universities, including Tsinghua, Beijing Institute of Technology and Harbin Institute of Technology.”

NUI Galway has academic exchange and collaborations with 30 institutions throughout China and Hong Kong. “I look forward to visiting the China Education Expo as part of a national delegation with Richard Bruton, TD Minister for Education and Skills in October of this year”, added Dr Browne.

The China Education Expo has become one of them most prominent education fairs in China, attracting a substantial number of top international education providers, as well as a significant volume of student visitors. This year Ireland will be awarded the prestigious role of ‘Country of Honour’ for the event.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Chinese delegates from some of the most well-known research institutions and universities were at NUI Galway for a joint international conference on environment, health and geographical information science. ISEH 2016, ISEG 2016 and GeoInformatics 2016 run until the 20 August, more information is available at www.conference.ie

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