Source: Office of International Cooperation & Exchange
Written by: Office of International Cooperation & Exchange
Translated by: Lin Wenmin
Edited by: Wang Dongmei

On the morning of April 15, 2013, a three-member delegation including Mr. Gordon Houlden, Director of the China Institute at the University of Alberta, and Chen Sumin, Politics, Economics and Public Affairs Consul of the Consulate General of Canada in Guangzhou, visited SYSU. Xu Yao, Deputy Director of the Office of International Cooperation & Exchange, met with the guests.

Deputy Director Xu Yao extended a warm welcome to the guests and expressed the hope of developing exchange and cooperation programs with Canadian universities. Mr. Houlden gave an introduction to the University of Alberta and its China Institute and highlighted its cooperation with Chinese universities. Xu Yao introduced Sun Yat-sen University’s predominant disciplines and its international cooperation with other universities. The two sides discussed about the prospect of launching student exchange programs and academic exchange and cooperation projects. Both agreed that the two universities could have scientific research collaborations in such fields as energy, environment, agriculture (food safety) and medicine (virology). After the meeting, the guests visited the Center on Philanthropy of Sun Yat-sen University.

Founded in 1908, the University of Alberta is one of the five biggest comprehensive research universities in Canada and also the only one that has set up the China Institute. CIUA was established in 2005 with the aim to enhance and support teaching and research activities, and promote exchanges between the two countries. Mr. Houlden was appointed as the Director of the China Institute in 2008, and it is his first time to visit SYSU.

In May 2011, Sun Yat-sen University and the University of Alberta singed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and reached consensus on teacher and student exchanges, research collaborations, joint seminars and cultural communication projects. According to the terms of the MOU, under the framework of cooperation between the two universities, both sides will focus on research cooperation and talent cultivation in the field of life sciences.