On Saturday, April 26, Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark visited UCAS and broke ground for the Building of Sino-Danish Center for Education and Research (SDC). Prof. Bai Chunli, President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) received the Queen’s delegation. The groundbreaking ceremony was hosted by Prof. Ding Zhongli, Vice-President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and President of UCAS.
In his greeting remarks, Prof. Bai Chunli looked back on the development of SDC. “SDC is planned to be not only an academic platform for scientific and talent exchanges through joint research and postgraduate training programs, but also a talent pool and R&D basis for Chinese and Danish enterprises. As the basic facility for SDC, the SDC building will serve as the platform for various activities held at SDC, and will bring benefits for researchers and students. I believe the SDC Building will become a landmark for the friendship between Chinese and Danish people in generations to come”, said Bai Chunli.
HM the Queen stressed in her speech the importance of overseas experience for the youth. She congratulated the Danish students on their wise choice of studying at SDC and encouraged them to cherish the unique opportunity. The Queen said that SDC would standas a symbol of Sino-Danish collaboration and friendship, and thanked the efforts made by all parties for SDC development.
The Danish Minister of Higher Education and Science, Ms. Sofie Carsten Nielsen and Chairman of The Danish Industry Foundation Sten Scheibye delivered speeches at the event. SDC's Chinese and Danish students and falcuty were also part of the ceremony and eager to break ground for their new building.
When expected to erected in the autumn of 2015 the 10.900 square meters SDC Building will have lecture halls, teaching facilities, offices, student facilities, 20 residences for researchers and a large foyer that can be used as showroom and for events.
Strong Sino-Danish relations within education and research
SDC is established in collaboration between the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science, the eight Danish public universities, CAS and UCAS.
The overall aim of SDC is to promote and strengthen collaboration between Danish and Chinese research and learning environments for the benefit of both countries, and to bring together leading Sino-Danish researchers. SDC focuses on research areas that contribute to the continued development of the Danish and Chinese societies and which supports the education programmes that SDC offers. Currently, seven Master’s programmes are offered within bioenergy, environmental studies, neuroscience, biotechnology, nanoscience, social science and innovation.
Since SDC opened up for enrolment in 2012, currently 249 Master’s and 68 doctorate students from China and Denmark have begun their education at the centre. When SDC is fully developed, it will accommodate 100 researchers, 75 PhD students and 3-400 Master’s students.
Written by Gu Pan
