On the afternoon of December 8th, HUST and the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) met online to hold the Key Partnership Agreement signing ceremony and the launch ceremony for the Research Seed Grants Scheme. Held virtually at Wutongyu Academic Exchange Center and UTS, attendees at the meeting included: Chen Jianguo, Vice President of HUST, Iain Watt, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International) of UTS, Leo Mian Liu, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Global Partnerships) of UTS and relevant representatives from the Office of International Affairs, the School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, the School of Medicine and Health Management and the School of Management. Jiang Jing, Deputy Director for the Office of International Affairs of HUST, hosted the ceremony that included more than 20 scholars from both universities attending the ceremony online.

Delivering a speech on behalf of HUST, Chen Jianguo said that both HUST and UTS are recognized for their common strengths in technology and that the partnership between the two sides benefits from a solid foundation that features a diversified personnel exchange and academic collaboration across a wide range of disciplines. Almost a decade ago, UTS listed HUST as one of its Key Technology Partners and this year, the two universities not only agreed to renew the Key Technology Partnership agreement but also pledged to further forge their bond with a new Key Partnership Initiative proposed by HUST, elevating the bilateral ties between the two institutions to a new level. Chen Jianguo went on to emphasize that The Key Partnership Initiative was one of HUST’s essential strategies to concentrate resources for more targeted and reciprocal global engagement. It is believed that with the strong support of the senior leadership, as well as the joint efforts by colleagues from both sides, the partnership will soon embark on its wonderful new chapter.

Iain Watt, Vice President of UTS, said that HUST is one of the partner universities that has the longest cooperation history with UTS and is the first "Key Technology Partner" listed by UTS. Over the past 25 years, the fields of bilateral cooperation have gradually expanded as can be seen from the more than 20 scholars from four academic departments attending the meeting today. Promoting global engagement is one of the three important components of UTS’s 2027 development strategy. Today's agreement marks a new starting point for the friendly exchanges between the two universities. It is hoped that the two universities will continue to work closely together in the future to promote higher level scientific research and broader collaboration.

During the discussion session, representatives from the International Offices of the two universities reviewed their past achievements. Chen Jie, Director of the Office of International Affairs at HUST, Gao Liang, Chair of School Committee from the School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Yu Xiang, Professor of the School of Management, Zhai Tianyou, Professor of the School of Materials Science and Engineering, Bradley Williams, Associate Dean of the Faculty of Science of UTS, Joanne Tipper, Head of the School of Biomedical Engineering, Natalie Stoianoff, Director of the Intellectual Property Program of Faculty of Law exchanged views on the promotion of scientific and academic collaborations within the next stage and expressed their expectations for the proposed future expanded cooperation.

Following this session, Chen Jianguo and Iain Watt signed the "HUST – UTS Key Partnership Agreement" via video link.

After the signing ceremony, Chen Jie and Leo Mian Liu jointly announced the launch of the Strategic Partnership Research Seed Grants Scheme between the two universities. Chen Jie said that the research seed grants scheme was a mutually beneficial nurturing project for scientific research collaborations with our key partner institutions. With the joint support of universities from both sides, small initial start-up funds will be used to support scholars from both institutions to engage in joint research activities that will focus on issues of common concern. The scheme will foster new growth points for future cooperation, and to promote joint applications for external funding. Leo Mian Liu pointed out that the establishment of the seed grants scheme between the two universities would further enhance the bilateral relations, and contribute to promoting the research capacity, achievements, as well as impact the two universities. Concluding his speech, he said that he believed that scholars from both universities would benefit greatly from this project.

An Introduction Video of the HUST - UTS Research Seed Grants Scheme

Lastly, Chen Jianguo and Iain Watt gave their closing remarks with both sides expressing that the signing ceremony was a complete success and would become a new important milestone for bilateral cooperation. Deepening existing ties for the future, the two universities will seek to build new cooperation platforms in multidisciplinary fields such as Life Sciences, Environmental Engineering and Energy.

Following the signing ceremony, the two universities held "The HUST & UTS Human-Oriented Computing Academic Symposium" which welcomed more than 30 participants including Professor Xu Guandong's team from the Faculty of Engineering & IT of UTS and Professor Zhao Feng's team from the School of Computer Science and Technology of HUST. At the symposium, the departments from both institutions presented four academic reports on human-oriented computing and knowledge mapping before holding in-depth discussions about the next stage of cooperation.

The University of Technology Sydney (UTS for short) is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. As a world-famous emerging university, it is ranked 133rd in the world and 9th in Australia in the 2022 QS World University Rankings. UTS is also ranked 11th in the world and 1st in Australia in the QS Top 50 Under 50 2021. The university has a complete range of disciplines, with many majors ranking among the top 20 in the world. The relevant data on the list of world-class disciplines of soft science in 2021 are as follows: Computer Science and Engineering (11, No.1 in Australia), Nursing (11), Communication Engineering (16, No.1 in Australia).

Written by: Huang Bochuan

Edited by: Chen Yuan, Andrew, Peng Yumeng