South China University of Technology Delegation Visits Greece, Sweden, and Switzerland to Strengthen Ties with European Counterparts

From September 18 to 26, a delegation led by MAI Junhong, Deputy Secretary of the CPC SCUT Committee, visited Greece, Sweden, and Switzerland to seek new cooperative opportunities and enhance teaching and research cooperation with European Academia. The delegation paid visits to five prestigious universities—National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Linköping University, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa), and University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW).

Strengthening ties with European Academia

At NTUA, the delegation held in-depth discussions with Varvarigos Emmanouil: Vice Rector for Research, Innovation and Extroversion and Zisis Athanasios：Vice Rector of Academic Affairs and Lifelong Education. MAI Junhong introduced SCUT’s latest developments, particularly its emerging engineering disciplines, Internationalization initiatives, and global academic exchanges. Varvarigos praised SCUT’s achievements, noting strong disciplinary alignment between the two universities and calling for enhanced two-way mobility. Both sides explored collaborations such as the 2025 Emerging Engineering Summer School, student exchange programs, and a 3+2 dual-degree bachelor’s-to-master’s program, with plans to finalize a university-level cooperation agreement—marking SCUT’s first institutional partnership in Greece.   

At KTH Royal Institute of Technology, the delegation met with Stefan Östlund, Vice President for international relations, to discuss upgrading their existing 4+0 joint program into a 3+2+X integrated bachelor’s-master’s-PhD training model. The two sides signed a3+2 agreement, explored ways to engage Swedish students in SCUT Emerging Engineering Summer School, and held talks with the Electrical Engineering Department to promote two-way mobility of young scholars and students.   

At Linköping University, discussions with Johan Ölvander, Dean of Department of Management and Engineering (IEI) and department heads focused on leveraging Guangzhou International Campus to advance research collaboration, particularly in AI-driven smart manufacturing for life sciences, while supporting the sister-city relationship between Guangzhou and Linköping.   

During their visit to Empa, the delegation exchanged ideas on cutting-edge scientific research and industry-academia collaboration with Georgios Mavromatidis, Head of the Urban Energy Systems Lab, and explored young scholar exchanges in advanced materials and energy systems. The delegation also hosted a talent recruitment seminar at ETH Zurich, targeting high-potential researchers from ETH and neighboring institutions.  

At FHNW, productive talks with Michele Canonico (Director FHNW School of Business) and Ruedi Nützi (Director of China Centre) resulted in plans to sign a memorandum of understanding . Both sides agreed to promote student mobility, faculty exchanges, and joint research in economics and finance, starting with FHNW students attending SCUT Emerging Engineering Summer School.  

During the trip, the delegation also visited the Chinese embassies in the three countries. Mai highlighted SCUT’s  commitment to high-level global engagement, efforts and initiatives in its internalization drive,talent cultivation, and cutting-edge research collaboration with their European partners. Embassy officials highly commended SCUT’s  role in deepening China-EU academic and cultural exchanges and passed on valuable insights and offered practical suggestions for sustainable partnerships.   

In Sweden, the delegation participated in the China Education Exhibition, promoting Study in China, Study at SCUT, and met with alumni and prospective talents, encouraging them to contribute to pursue scientific and technological excellence, becoming vanguards leading the University’s growth and propellants for closer Chinese-Swedish academic ties .   

(Source from SCUT News, translated by XU Cenlin, final review by WU Zhaosheng, posted by LEI Pengpeng, Office of Global Affairs)