University of East London Homepage

Chinese leaders visit UEL for lessons on UK university life

Wednesday 22 August 2007

Leading Chinese education officials visited the University of East London (UEL) Docklands campus on Wednesday 15 August to learn more about life at a modern UK university.

Professor Martin Everett, UEL’s Vice-Chancellor, welcomed the 35 university directors and vice-presidents, who were taking part in a leadership course organised by Oxford University to offer an insight into the British Higher Education system.

Professor Everett said: “UEL is now a global learning community with over 20,000 students from more than 120 countries. We have forged close links with numerous leading universities and colleges worldwide, and, with 2012 on the horizon, we are particularly interested in developing good working relationships with institutions in China.

“We are committed to helping ensure that the London Olympics are a fantastic success that contributes positively to the social, cultural and economic regeneration of our communities. The best way to achieve this is to learn from the experiences of other host cities, especially Beijing.”

The Chinese delegates listened to talks by Professor Susan Price, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Keith Dickinson, Director of Research, Dr Alan White, Head of UEL’s Graduate School, Dr Richard Zheng, Director of Knowledge Transfer, and Martin Chan of Knowledge Dock, UEL’s enterprise development and support service.

They also enjoyed a tour of UEL’s Knowledge Dock Centre, which houses innovative expert centres and business facilities and was officially opened by Her Majesty the Queen in February this year.

Professor He Xiao Chun, Vice-Director of the Department of Education in Liaoning Province, said: “It’s been an excellent day here at UEL. We enjoyed all of the lectures and especially the tour of the Knowledge Dock, which has some very interesting facilities.”

The Chinese delegates’ visit was co-ordinated by UEL’s London East Research Institute (LERI) as part of a series of events run in partnership with Oxford University. Based at UEL’s Docklands campus, LERI provides a regional network for research and consultancy on issues of urban regeneration.

Dr Iain MacRury, co-Director of LERI, said: “The University of East London is committed to contributing to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We are very pleased with the opportunities that this growing relationship offers us to showcase our research and other areas of expertise to an important international audience.”

Ends/.

For details and pictures contact Patrick Wilson: 020 8223 2061 or 07951 797 975

Notes to Editors

The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.

Information for screenreader users:

For a general description of these pages and an explanation of how they should work with screenreading equipment please follow this link: Link to general description

For further information on this web site’s accessibility features please follow this link: Link to accessibility information