On December 25, the undergraduate scholarship awarding ceremony for outbound exchanges , and the overseas exchange programs promotion event of 2019 were held. The awards presented to the student scholarship recipients included the Luojia Eminent Exchange Scholarship, Luojia Excellent Exchange Scholarship and the Third Semester Exchange scholarship.
Nearly 300 people attended the ceremony, including President Dou Xiankang, Vice President Li Fei, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of WHU Qu Wenqian, heads of functional departments and different schools, counselors and undergraduate representatives.
In his speech, Dou Xiankang pointed out that international exchanges and cooperation are both important functions of universities and also crucial ways to cultivate first-class talents. In recent years, a third semester has been introduced which, through a flexible curriculum arrangement, allows students to study abroad. By increasing investment in resources, a special scholarship has been set up to encourage WHU undergraduates to study abroad at world famous universities. WHU will continue to support WHUers studying in high-level universities and laboratories overseas by strengthening policy and providing financial aids.
Dou Xiankang also said that China’s tremendous achievements since the beginning of the Reform and Opening-up period are closely linked to the idea of “open-minded learning”. The key element in “studying abroad” is “study”. Students in WHU must take an open attitude towards studying advanced concepts, experience, and knowledge offered by other countries. Our students should have the determination to devote to family and country, the courage to shoulder responsibility and the sense of duty to achieve national prosperity and rejuvenation. Moreover, we must keep up with the achievements of talents in world-class universities, strengthen international competitiveness and strive to build China into a strong nation.
Li Xiaoshu, the director of Office of International Affairs, introduced aspects relating to the situation of undergraduates’ overseas exchanges, and announced the commendation documents of the special scholarship for study abroad.
At the event, five undergraduates from the School of Foreign Languages and Literature, the School of Physical Science and Technology, the School of Chemistry and Molecular Science, the School of Mathematics and Statistics, and the School of Economics and Management shared their experiences from their studies at Cambridge University, Nanyang Technological University of Singapore, and the United Nations office at Geneva.
The awarding ceremony was followed by the overseas exchange program promotion event for students, which included the introduction of some programs and policies related to study abroad.
It is reported that in 2019 1,693 undergraduate students went abroad as part of an exchange or study abroad program, a ratio of 23.5%, double that of 2017. A third of these students went to QS world top 50 universities, such as Harvard University, Yale University, and Cambridge University. Since the establishment of a special scholarship for undergraduate students taking part in exchange or study abroad arrangements in 2016, the school has invested more than 34 million yuan. Nearly 3,000 undergraduates have benefited from it, and the scholarship coverage has continued to increase.
Rewritten by: Dong Xiaoqian
Photo by: Zhan Chaoyue
Edited by: Cao siyi，Shen Yuxi and Hu Sijia
