Posted 28 October 2014
UCD opens global centre in Beijing
During her visit to China the Minister for Education and Skills, Ms Jan O'Sullivan announced details of UCD's global engagement strategy which sees the setting up of global centres in China, India, Malaysia and the United States.
"I am delighted to welcome the announcement by President Deeks regarding the establishment of a UCD Global Centre here in Beijing. This global centre is one of four being set up by UCD in China, India, Malaysia and the United States.” She said.
The UCD Beijing global centre is collocated in the premises with the Irish Embassy and Enterprise Ireland. “By setting up global centres, UCD will extend its activities beyond student recruitment. Their purpose is to provide a focal point for education, for alumni and diaspora community, for research and academic collaboration, for trade and intercultural exchange.” The Minister added.
Pictured far right: Ms Jan O'Sullivan (Photo credit: Gareth Chaney Collins)
At present, there are 6,000 international students including 600 Chinese students studying at UCD in Dublin. Ninety of these are PhD students funded through the China Scholarship Council.
UCD provides joint degree level and exchange programmes in China with a number of leading universities including Fudan University in Shanghai and the Peking University Guanghua School of Management. UCD also has a partnership with Beijing University of Technology / BJUT – the Beijing Dublin International College. BDIC was opened in 2012 and now has 500 students studying for degrees in finance, computing and engineering.
There are 700 Irish students studying at overseas universities as part of their UCD degree programmes, including 34 BComm International students in Beijing. Some 18% of UCD's Irish students spend part of their degree studying at overseas universities and this figure is set to expand in China and globally.
UCD is the lead university for the Ireland China Research SFI ISCA (International Strategic Collaboration Award) consortium. This is a major national initiative fostering collaboration in research and enterprise engagement between UCD and the other Irish partners, leading Chinese universities, and companies in both countries. It focuses on four themes addressing critical challenges and economic development opportunities facing both Ireland and China, to which UCD and the Irish university sector bring world-leading expertise: Agri-Food, ICT, Health, and Energy.
Speaking about the opportunities that will come from the UCD global centre in Beijing, the President of UCD, Professor Andrew Deeks said: “Ireland and China hold education in very high regard and recognise the contribution education makes to economic prosperity. The success of the Confucius Institute at UCD, which is linked with Renmin University, has already created a real bridge between the two countries.”
Over 5,200 students in Ireland undertake the courses offered by the UCD Confucius Institute every year. This breaks down into circa 550 undergraduates, 4,200 secondary school pupils from across Ireland, and 450 members of the general public. In addition, UCD Confucius Institute organises culture events for the Irish public, such as the annual Spring Festival Gala and the Chinese Film Festival.
“The UCD global centre in Beijing will complement the activities of our Embassy here as well as Enterprise Ireland and the IDA, and foster greater ties between our two countries.” The President said.
“There are currently 1,000 UCD alumni in China with over 100 based in Beijing. Through this global centre we will develop networks for and with our graduates so that we can support their careers here. We have been active for a much longer time in other parts of Asia and have a further 2,000 alumni in Hong Kong and 6,500 in Singapore, so there are enormous opportunities to be realised by creating this network.”
UCD is also making links for students and graduates through the GAA and this October sent the first international ladies’ football team from Dublin to the Asia Gaelic Games in Kuala Lumpur. This team was made up of international students who had not played Gaelic football before coming to study at UCD and it is hoped that they will continue to play with GAA clubs when they return to their home countries.
(Produced by UCD University Relations)
