Time: May 27, 2017
Source: Party Publicity Department
Author: Chen Wenju, Su Yunsheng
Picture: Liu Bin
Publisher: News Center

The Jinan University-University of Birmingham Joint Institute will officially open in September with 120 students. Its first major aims are to cultivate advanced interdisciplinary talents with a solid mathematical foundation, outstanding innovative ability, a spirit of cooperation, multi-language advantages, and international vision in an age of artificial intelligence and big data to serve Guangdong as well as the national innovation and development.

JNU President Hu Jun announced details of the school and enrollment on May 24 at the institute's enrollment press conference. He said JNU’s partner, the University of Birmingham, is the internationally top-ranked college in the world's top 100 and one of the top British universities. In China, students in the institute can enjoy the original British education, and graduates can earn dual degrees.

(Press conference)

The Jinan University-University of Birmingham Joint Institute is establishing four majors: mathematics, mathematics with information computing, economics with statistics, and economics. The institute will admit its first students in September, mainly from Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Sichuan, Chongqing and other provinces in China. It expects to enroll 120 students for the first year.

Planned tuition and fees is about 70,000 yuan for a year, but the final decision is up to the Guangdong Price Bureau. The institute admits students who pass the college entrance exam with a score above the one needed to apply for first-tier schools. In addition, they should have scores of no less than 75 in math and 80 in English. If students are willing to be transferred to other specialties, they may choose within the four majors.

Students in the institute will register at both universities. If they complete all courses and meet all requirements for graduation, they will receive bachelor's degrees from Jinan University and the University of Birmingham

The institute faculty is composed of teachers at the University of Birmingham and teachers experienced in the four majors who can teach courses in English at JNU. All courses in these majors will be taught in English. Over 50 percent of total credits in each major taught will be taught by University of Birmingham teachers. Students may use Blackboard, the internet teaching platform, to take related courses offered by the University of Birmingham.

The University of Birmingham's teaching quality monitoring system is also being introduced into the institute. Educational activities in the institute will be evaluated by the Ministry of Education’a Quality of Sino-Foreign Cooperation Education Certification System and the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA).

(Jon Frampton, vice president of the University of Birmingham, being interviewed by journalists)

(JNU Vice President Song Xianzhong at the press conference)

Institute students may apply for scholarships, student loans provided by JNU and social aids provided by social organizations and companies, up to 100,000 RMB. The institute also provides special scholarships to encourage excellent students.

The Jinan University-University of Birmingham Joint Institute plans to start a Global Undergraduate Exchange Program providing opportunities for short- or long-term exchange study at world-class universities. They may apply to Columbia University, Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of California-Los Angeles, Cambridge University, Oxford University and other top universities. 

In addition, the institute has launched cooperation with Guangzhou governmental agencies and famous companies at home and abroad. It has already identified an initial project with the Central Business District in Guangzhou's Tianhe District to offer institute students opportunities to enter those enterprises. To prepare students better for the demands of the job market, the institute offers courses based on the demands of PWC, DTT, KPMG, EY, Huawei and other big companies. It also provides specific internship and social practice activities.