Warm welcome to first Chinese students on our new joint degree course

The first Chinese students on a special new joint degree programme got an insight into life and study at Essex during an event at Northwest University in Xian.

During a successful trip to China, Hong Kong and Singapore, our Vice-Chancellor Professor Anthony Forster officially signed an education and research partnership agreement with Northwest University.

The agreement includes a prestigious joint four-year programme, which will lead to qualifications from both countries with successful students being awarded a BSc in Electronic Systems Engineering from Essex and a BSc in Electronic Information Science and Technology from Northwest. They will be taught in both English and Mandarin.

The agreement includes a prestigious joint four-year programme, which will lead to qualifications from both countries with successful students being awarded a BSc in Electronic Systems Engineering from Essex and a BSc in Electronic Information Science and Technology from Northwest. They will be taught in both English and Mandarin.

During the visit, Professor Anthony Vickers, Head of our School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, met the first cohort of 118 students on the course who will study for three years at Northwest University, being taught 11 modules by visiting Essex academic staff. They will then study their final year at Essex.

Professor Vickers gave a presentation to the students and then held a Q&A session, where he congratulated them on the high quality of their English. 

"The students were very excited to be on the programme,” said Professor Vickers. “They were also keen to learn about how Essex will work with them over the period of their degree course." 

Last month we welcomed visitors from Northwest University to our Colchester Campus who took part in a two-week teacher training programme linked to the joint degree. 

Dean of Partnerships, Professor Dominic Micklewright, said: “Northwest University shares our commitment to excellence in education and excellence in research, so we are looking forward to a very successful partnership.”

Essex is one of the most international universities in the world, with students and academics from over 140 countries. 

See photographs from the trip on our flickr site.