News Archive

Our University's increasing prominence globally was demonstrated again recently by the visit of the influential Chinese leader, His Excellency Mr Jia Qinglin, Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative.

Mr Jia - described as the fourth most prominent dignitary in his country - toured our University's Centre for Energy with the Centre's Director, Winthrop Professor Dongke Zhang.

Perth was the first stop on His Excellency's visit to Australia and the fact that, during a short stay in Western Australia, he made time to come to our University highlights the esteem in which our University is held in China.

UWA has developed strong links with many Chinese universities and institutions. These ties of friendship, scholarship and research will ensure mutual benefits for both our nations in fields as varied as addressing the challenges of ageing populations to research in energy.

China's ties with our University can only be beneficial. According to a new report from the Royal Society, China is one of a group of countries, including India, emerging as major scientific powers to rival the traditional leaders. The report emphasised the growing importance of international collaboration in the conduct and impact of global science and its ability to solve challenges such as energy security, climate change and biodiversity loss.

Our University is a member of several international collaborative groups. These collaborations complement our current direction in broadening the education of our students with our New Courses 2012 to add breadth and depth and to enhance critical thinking, research and communication skills. They also enable postgraduate students and staff to spend time at other institutions, enhancing the learning experience and internationalising curricula.

The importance of deep and enduring engagement with neighbouring nations built on the foundation of education was also highlighted by the visit a few weeks earlier of Indonesia's Vice-President Professor Dr Boediono.

The personal and institutional relationships that develop from this foundation provide us with a sound model on which to develop new relationships.

Our nation must look to innovation as the driver of the economy in the years to come - and universities will be central to developing new ideas and new knowledge. By building enduring links with universities around the world, we can be sure that our nation will be part of the knowledge economy.

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As you will have seen in this edition of UWANews, the University will be welcoming Professor Paul Johnson as its new Vice-Chancellor next year. He is an excellent choice to lead our University from 2012. Until then, I will be continuing to make sure that we do not let up on our bold agenda to build on the very sound position we now hold in the national and global higher education environment.

Vice-Chancellor Alan Robson

• UWA News 18 April 2011