By Professor James Smith, Vice Principal – International, the University of Edinburgh
Welcome to the University of Edinburgh’s 2015 East Asia blog – your source of information on University events taking place throughout East Asia from 19-26 May.
I am really looking forward to my first visit to Hong Kong and Singapore, and I know my colleagues are excited about their visits to Shanghai and Hangzhou.
The trip will establish new partnerships and connections as well as cementing old ones. We will establish new partnerships with institutions across the region and engage with Edinburgh alumni and potential students.
‘Pop-up’ events involving Edinburgh staff will display the breadth of teaching and research activity at the University. Experts in medicine, science and the humanities will present public lectures and academic events throughout the region.
Edinburgh’s links with China go back to the 19th Century. The first Chinese student to graduate from a British university received his MD from Edinburgh in 1855.
Since then the growth in the student population has mirrored the shift of economic gravity to China and its neighbours. At the turn of the millennium the number of Chinese students at Edinburgh was just over 400, now we welcome more than six times that number from the region each year.
We are equally proud of our strong academic partnerships in the region. Edinburgh has strong associations with Peking, Fudan and Hong Kong Universities through the prestigious international ‘Universitas 21’ network, and active partnerships with a great many others.
Over the next two weeks my colleagues and I will update you, in between meetings, workshops and events.
We hope to provide a taste of our activities in Edinburgh in East Asia, just as we hope to highlight Edinburgh and East Asia, in all its forms.
I am really looking forward to it, at least once the long flight is out of the way.