Partnership

Xiamen University (XMU), founded in 1921 and locates in the port city of Xiamen in southeast China, has a partnership with the University of Southampton (UoS).

It can be traced back for many years since the two universities signed contacts for cooperation and have been working together on several projects across diverse academic disciplines as well as holding strong research collaborations with the State Key Labs in Chemistry and Oceanography at XMU.

The State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces at XMU holds symposiums every two years with UoS discussing jointly running the International Summer School programme.

A Tripartite Symposium was held in 2011 in Xiamen brought together experts from both universities in these two fields. Experts from UoS visit Xiamen to deliver the Summer School in Electrochemistry each year.

In May 2014, the two universities signed the "Co-Sponsorship Agreement between University of Southampton and Xiamen University". UoS became one of the first cooperating universities with XMU in its international teacher training programme. According to the agreement, UoS will receive and train 40 undergraduates recommended by XMU towards PhD candidates within ten years’ time. So far, 11 students have been selected.

The links between the universities are not limited to the sciences. UoS also cooperates with the School of Public Affairs, School of Economics and International College at XMU. For example, in May 2014, the School of Arts and Humanities and the School of Social Sciences at UoS signed the "1 + 1 + 1" Master Joint Training Agreement with the School of Public Affairs at XMU. In 2014, the International College at XMU and the School of Arts and Humanities at UoS run a Joint Pre-sessional Programme and turned it into a “1 + 3” undergraduate programme in 2015.

The establishment of the Confucius Institute at the UoS is very important in consolidating the partnership and will provide a sound platform to extend the joint work to other areas. Xiamen University is one of China's most active supporters for the international development of Confucius Institutes with a total setting up of 15 institutions worldwide, among which 6 are in Europe. We are delighted to be part of the network.