Agreement signing between University of Nottingham and Dongguan University of Technology

An MOA signing ceremony between the University of Nottingham (UoN)  and Dongguan University of Technology (DGUT) was held at the Dongguan City Hall on 27 February 2018 to establish a Joint Doctoral Training Centre between University of Nottingham and Dongguan University of Technology.  During the signing ceremony, the Dongguan city government and University of Nottingham signed on the letter of intent to jointly train researchers and graduates students, while Dongguan University of Technology (DGUT) and the University of Nottingham (UoN) signed on the establishment of a Joint-Doctoral Training Centre.

UoN Pro-Vice Chancellor and University of Nottingham Malaysia Provost Professor Graham Kendall, Dongguan City Standing Committee Member Yang SiaoTang DGUT Vice-Chancellor Yang Minlin (representing Dongguan city government and  DGUT respectively signed the agreement. The signing was witnessed by University of Nottingham Malaysia Dean of Engineering Professor Andy Chan, Dongguan City Deputy Secretary-General Zhong Bin, Dongguan City Bureau of Science and Technology Deputy Director Wu Meiliang, Deputy Director of Dongguan Foreign Affairs and Overseas Chinese Affairs Bureau Luo Weidong, and Director of the International Affairs Department of DGUT Hu Qinhua.

According to Professor Yang, the signing of the agreement plays a significant role to nurture talent, international research cooperation and international cultural exchange for both universities. Under the support of the Dongguan city government, DGUT and UoN will take this joint PhD program as an opportunity to strengthen mutual trust between the two institutions, also to promote interaction, talent development, technological innovation, knowledge transfer and other various cooperation, in the spirit of providing talent, intellectual and technology support for the innovation development of Guangdong Province and Dongguan City.

It is understood that UoN will be responsible for the enrolment, admission, research and to award the degree to the PhD students. The joint PhD students will complete their foundation year at UoN and will then continue their research work in DGUT for at least two years before they return to UoN to complete their thesis and defence.  The PhD students will be jointly supervised by the academic team from both UoN and DGUT.  DGUT will set up an extra scholarship fund for the joined PhD students that match the criteria. The intellectual copyright that is produced during this period shall be shared by both institutions.

According to University of Nottingham Malaysia CEO and Provost Professor Graham Kendall: The University of Nottingham is among the top universities in the world and our strategic position with campuses in Asia and the UK gives us opportunities to collaborate in both Research and Teaching and Learning with some of the most prestigious universities in both Europe and Asia. It gives us great honour to collaborate with Dongguan University of Technology who is investing in high quality, post graduate students.

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More information is available from Professor Andy Chan on andy.chan@nottingham.edu.my, Professor Sivakumar Manickam on sivakumar.manickam@nottingham.edu.my or Josephine Dionisappu, PR & Communications Manager at The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus on josephine.dionisappu@nottingham.edu.my, +6 (03) 8924 8746.

Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham has 43,000 students and is ‘the nearest Britain has to a truly global university, with a “distinct” approach to internationalisation, which rests on those full-scale campuses in China and Malaysia, as well as a large presence in its home city.’ (Times Good University Guide 2016). It is also one of the most popular universities in the UK among graduate employers and the winner of ‘Outstanding Support for Early Career Researchers’ at the Times Higher Education Awards 2015. It is ranked in the world’s top 75 by the QS World University Rankings 2015/16. More than 97 per cent of research at The University of Nottingham is recognised internationally and it is 8th in the UK by research power according to the Research Excellence Framework 2014. It has been voted the world’s greenest campus for four years running, according to Greenmetrics Ranking of World Universities. 

Impact: The Nottingham Campaign, its biggest-ever fundraising campaign, is delivering the University’s vision to change lives, tackle global issues and shape the future.