The University of Nottingham’s biggest ever fundraising campaign is on target to reach its goal of £150m — and the appeal, which has already reached £81m, is about to go global.
The University is establishing two charitable foundations to support the work of its pioneering international campuses at Semenyih in Malaysia and Ningbo in China. The aim is to help talented students — particularly those in financial need, develop young academic talent and to grow the University’s research priorities across the world with the aim of changing lives, tackling global issues and shaping the future.
Professor Hai-Sui Yu, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for International Campuses said: “The University of Nottingham’s uniquely global position — with campuses in the UK, Malaysia and China, and a global student community of 40,000 from 150 countries — provides students and researchers with unrivalled opportunities to study and work across borders and cultures. The two foundations, one in China and one in Malaysia, will strengthen our endeavour to create a talent pipeline of inquisitive, capable and globally responsible citizens, pushing the boundaries of knowledge to better serve their global community. They will also enable donors to support the growing number of research projects which the University has established across Asia.”
The University of Nottingham broke the higher education mould when it established its two campuses in Asia. It is nearly 11 years since the University established the first British campus in Malaysia and eight years since it become the first Sino-foreign university to establish a campus in China. This required the support of the Malaysian and Chinese Governments and partnerships with Boustead in Malaysia and the Wanli Education Group (WEG) in China.
Commitment to teaching and learning and research excellence
The University is committed to creating highly educated, responsible citizens to deliver more for these two great nations and the world beyond. As a leading higher education provider teaching and learning are at the heart of everything the University does and the institution is enriched and informed by its commitment to research excellence.
The University of Nottingham Ningbo China is actively developing a world-changing research portfolio that seeks to support the ambitions of China as its economy continues to grow. The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, which co-hosts the first Crops for the Future Research Centre, is uniquely positioned to support the aspirations of Malaysia as it moves towards developed nation status.
Professor David Greenaway, the Vice-Chancellor of The University of Nottingham, who has just completed a second epic cycle ride across Britain in support of the campaign, said: “Now the Impact Campaign is established we are particularly keen to widen our focus. We want to enhance our ground-breaking achievements in China and Malaysia. The aim is to support the environment, the natural resources and the people who live in Asia. Our success will require new levels of engagement with our global network of communities to ensure mutual benefits and a long lasting impact.”
Professor Greenaway was one of a team of 12 members of staff who took part in Life Cycle 2. Last year a Life Cycle team rode 1,000 from John O’Groats to Land’s End to raise money for palliative and end of life care. This year Life Cycle 2 completed a 1,100 bike ride from the most north-westerly point on the UK mainland, Cape Wrath in Scotland to Dover on the South-East coast of England to raise money for UK, Chinese and Malaysian students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The Life Cycle teams are among the many — from individuals to large multi-nationals — raising money for the appeal.
Support is growing and builds on existing donations
The first major gift to the University’s new charitable foundation in China is a £20,000 donation from WEG for Life Cycle 2 to support students experiencing financial hardship in China. Gifts to the foundations build on existing philanthropic support. This year research into the conservation of the Malaysian elephant received funding of RM3.36m (£700,000) from the Malaysian based multinational Sime Darby. Other important donors for the project are Singapore Zoo, Copenhagen Zoo, the National Zoo (US), US Fish & Wildlife Service and private philanthropists.
For more information about the University’s two new foundations in Asia please go to: www.nottingham.edu.my/unmc-foundation; www.nottingham.edu.cn/en/unnc-foundation;
For more information about the Impact Campaign please go to: www.nottingham.ac.uk/impactcampaign
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More information is available from Lindsay Brooke, Media Relations Manager at The University of Nottingham on +44 (0)115 951 5751, Josephine Dionisappu, PR & Communications Manager at The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus on +6 (03)89248746.
The University of Nottingham, described by The Sunday Times University Guide 2011 as ‘the embodiment of the modern international university’, has 42,000 students at award-winning campuses in the United Kingdom, China and Malaysia. It is also the most popular university in the UK by 2012 application numbers, and ‘the world’s greenest university’. It is ranked in the UK's Top 10 and the World's Top 75 universities by the Shanghai Jiao Tong (SJTU) and the QS World University Rankings.
More than 90 per cent of research at The University of Nottingham is of international quality, according to the most recent Research Assessment Exercise. The University aims to be recognised around the world for its signature contributions, especially in global food security, energy & sustainability, and health. The University won a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in 2011, for its research into global food security.
Impact: The Nottingham Campaign, its biggest ever fund-raising campaign, will deliver the University’s vision to change lives, tackle global issues and shape the future. Follow Impact on Twitter: http://twitter.com/uonimpact
Posted on 26th September 2012