On July 18th, a delegation from Marie and Louis Pasteur University (UMLP) in France, led by Vice President Daniel Hissel, visited the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech). Prof. Qikun Xue, President of SUSTech, and SUSTech representatives warmly welcomed the guests.

President Qikun Xue extended a sincere welcome and provided an overview of SUSTech’s rapid development. He highlighted SUSTech’s commitment as a young research university to cultivate high-level talents with global perspectives and innovative capabilities. President Xue emphasized UMLP’s significance as a worldwide partner. He proposed deepening ties through joint research projects, leveraging shared expertise, academic exchanges for faculty and students, and cultural cooperation programs to foster mutual understanding.

Vice President Daniel Hissel commended SUSTech’s remarkable achievements in a short time. He highlighted UMLP’s historic engineering and natural sciences strengths, aligning with SUSTech’s focus. Noting the scarcity of academic exchanges between French and Chinese students, he proposed establishing student exchange as the initial priority for collaboration.

During open discussions, both parties addressed key practical aspects of their collaboration, focusing on student exchange programs designed to be free of language barriers, building upon their foundation for collaborative academic research, and encompassing exchanges at all levels—from undergraduate and graduate students to PhD students.

Vice President Daniel Hissel and his delegation were warmly guided on a campus tour.

Text by Ou Cai

Photo by Xiaoyan Zhang

Reviewed by Wei Hong