On Dec 4th, 2020, Honors College (HC) held an online meeting with Khalifa University of Science and Technology (KU) to further discuss the cooperation progress. Professor Zhang Tiejun from KU participated in the meeting and met with Ms. Yun Yuan, the Deputy Dean of HC; Ms. Wei Xiaodong and Ms. Yang Wenqi, who both are the Secretary of International Affairs of HC. During the meeting, the representatives from both universities reviewed pragmatic cooperation across the board and discussed the topics of common interest.

As a newly founded, science-focused university, Khalifa University has accomplished comprehensive research achievements covering a broad range of disciplines in science, engineering, and medicine for over 10 years. With the strong support from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government, it continues to grow with the UAE’s developmental goals and needs and focus on the innovation ecosystem for the country’s “post-oil” future transformation. As the top one university in the UAE, KU also ranks the 211th  in the 2021 QS World University Rankings and 350-400th in the latest 2021 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings.  

Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU) and HC has always explored extraordinary cooperative opportunities for students around the world. The cooperation with KU has always been remarkable for the development of NPU and HC students. HC had planned the Winter International Exchange Program in 2019 in order to respond to The Belt and Road Initiative. Due to ongoing management of the COVID-19 pandemic, HC and KU had to cancel the program but never stopped the path towards future cooperation.

This time, HC and KU reached important consensus on the details of this cooperation. Students of NPU and HC are warmly welcomed to study in KU for their future development. KU will grant scholarships for both two-year Master degree and four-year PhD diploma study. Besides, KU consents to develop a program for senior students of NPU and HC to continue their graduation theses in KU and then obtain a Master Degree from KU in two years, so called 3.5+0.5+2 program. During the time while students are completing their final projects, KU is willing to cover the housing, insurance, and other related expenses.

Both sides also discussed the potential cooperation on course development. In the meeting, Prof. Zhang stated that he would coordinate with different research departments of KU to arrange lectures and classes related to advanced science and technology for NPU and HC students.

KU is the highly valued partner for NPU and HC. HC looks forward to explore more cooperation with KU in the coming future.

Editor: Yang Wenqi  Reviewer: Yuan Yun