Dal signs new agreement with Northeastern University of China

On Tuesday, Dalhousie welcomed delegates from Northeastern University of China (NEU) to sign a new agreement that will bring Computer Science students to Dal as part of a Joint International Degree Program.

Dal President Tom Traves signed the agreement with Sun Jiaxue, head of the University Council (the equivalent of Dal’s Board of Governors) for NEU.

The program will be a 3+2 program, meaning that students will spend their first three years studying at NEU, located in the city of Shenyang in the Province of Liaoning. They will then spend their fourth and fifth years at Dal.

“Dal currently has more than 650 students from China in different areas of the university,” said Dr. Traves, speaking with Mr. Sun at the signing. “So we are certain that the students who come from your university to Halifax will find a community that is very welcoming of them.”

The agreement will also encourage faculty exchanges between the two institutions, joint or collaborative research, and the exchange of scientific and information materials.

NEU, which has more than 20,000 students, is one of China's leading universities, supported by the China Scholarship Council, which provides funding for students and faculty to do research abroad at top schools globally. NEU is particularly renowned in Computer Science and Engineering.

“We’re eager to collaborate in these areas, but also looking at others,” said Mr. Sun, speaking with President Traves through a translator. “We believe both Dalhousie and Northeastern are ready for in-depth collaboration.” He noted that the Chinese government has committed more support in recent years to its key universities and their international partnerships.

Shared opportunities

The signing occurred after the delegation spent the morning meeting with leaders in both Engineering and Computer Science, outlining Dal’s offerings and starting to discuss future collaboration opportunities.

Dr. Traves noted the common ground the two universities share in research and made reference to NEU’s long history of expertise in gold mining in looking ahead to future high-tech collaborations. “I think computer science may be the gold of the 21st century,” he said.

“Like you, we are very interested in developing partnerships with leading universities around the world,” said Dr. Traves, explaining that such agreements with global universities are a crucial part of Dal’s international strategy. “We see this [3+2] agreement as being a platform for developing many further steps in such a partnership.”

It is not yet known what the intake of students will be for the program. Similar programs, like Dal’s 2+2 agreement with in Economics with China’s Shandong University of Finance & Economics, have started with a small number students in their first year and grown steadily from there.