A delegation from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), led by Prof. Adam Habib, the Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the Wits University and the Chair of Universities South Africa, visited UCAS on the morning of September 5. Prof. Wu Yueliang, Vice-President of UCAS, met with the delegation at the Yuquanlu campus.
Wu welcomed and briefed the African visitors on the university - institute’s fusion of leadership, faculty, and management, as well as UCAS's “two-phase” cultivation mode. He also overviewed scholarship programs for International students and the various collaborative international programs of UCAS, emphasizing the China-Africa Joint Center for Research and Education, CAS and the 1st Africa-China-World Bank Education Partnership Forum: Higher Education, Science and Technology. He said that UCAS places great value on collaborations with African institutions and expressed his hope that UCAS will enroll PhD candidates from South Africa.
Adam Habib conveyed his thanks for the warm welcome. He introduced the history, facilities and faculty of Wits and the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUN) initiated by Wits. He said Wits is willing to sign a contract and cooperate closely with UCAS in both scientific research and education.
Both sides exchanged their experiences with discipline development, student cultivation and international student enrollment, and discussed graduate exchange programs. UCAS and Wits plan to cooperate on multiple levels in Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science.
Also in attendance were Prof. Jiao Jianbin, Deputy Dean of the School of Electronic, Electrical and Communication Engineering, Prof. Huang Qingming, Deputy Dean of the School of Computer and Control Engineering, Prof. Zheng Yangheng, Deputy Dean of the College of Physical Sciences, Prof. Guo Tiande, Deputy Dean of the School of Mathematical Sciences and Prof. Tian Yingjie, Deputy Director of the Key Laboratory of Big Data Mining and Knowledge Management.
The University of the Witwatersrand is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of Central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University. Founded in 1896 as the South African School of Mines in Kimberley, it is the third oldest South African university in continuous operation and is the second highest ranked university in South African. There are four Nobel Prize laureates and 91 prestigious Rhodes Scholars from Wits. The university is one of two founder members of the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUN), an Alliance of 16 research-intensive universities from Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South African, Tanzania and Uganda.c
