To strengthen its international relations, Széchenyi István University recently received a delegation from Yantai University in China. The two institutions have signed a cooperation agreement committing themselves to a partnership, the first step of which could be the establishment of a student exchange programme.

The internationalisation of Széchenyi István University started in 2016 with the Stipendium Hungaricum higher education scholarship programme, and from 2018 it was further strengthened by the admission of self-financed students. In line with Hungarian economic policy, opening up to China is a priority for the institution. In addition to the civil engineering double degree programme with Jiaxing University, it has recently forged closer ties with Shandong Jiaotong University and Shanghai University of International Business and Economics, and recently hosted a delegation from Yantai University. The parties also signed an agreement committing themselves to a future partnership.

Réka Orosz-Barczi, China Specialist at the International Programmes and Alumni Centre of Széchenyi University, welcomed the delegation from one of the most renowned higher education institutions of Shandong Province, located on the shores of the Yellow Sea, and welcomed the guests in their mother tongue, before introducing the institution. "The central campus in Győr has a very good geographical location, as it is surrounded by three capitals – Budapest, Vienna and Bratislava - and is about an hour's drive from each of them," she said. She also stressed that international students particularly like the fact that Győr is a liveable, safe city.

"The predecessor of Széchenyi István University was founded in 1968. Our institution was awarded university status in 2002, so - in addition to being proud of our past - we define ourselves as a 21st century centre of science and technology higher education", Réka Orosz-Barczi concluded. She added: "Today, more than 14,000 young people study at the University, which offers high-quality Programmes in Győr, Mosonmagyaróvár, Zalaegerszeg and Budapest.”

The Chinese delegation was met by the staff of Széchenyi István University (Photo: Márton Horváth)

On behalf of Yantai University in China, Vice President Feng Suling was represented by Zhang Xijun, the Director of the Department of Sustainable Technology at Yantai University. "The city of Yantai is a famous seaside destination that has won several national and international awards over the past twenty years. Its industry is diversified, covering many sectors from equipment manufacturing to electronics and agriculture," he said. He added that, like Győr, Yantai is in an excellent geographical location, with Beijing, Shanghai and Seoul just an hour's flight away.

"Our newest campus, located right on the beach, opened last year, with students from four of our faculties taking up residence and eight thousand students studying there. We have another 22 thousand students on the central campus, bringing the total number of young people attending Yantai University to 30 thousand," said Zhang Xijun. He stressed that the institution offers courses in ten disciplines, including engineering, law, agriculture and economics, and supports academic activities through 66 research institutes.

Following the presentation of Yantai University, Dr Gábor Dogossy, Dean of the Audi Hungaria Faculty of Vehicle Engineering, said that their close partnership with Audi Hungaria guarantees that students will be involved in projects that respond to real industrial needs during their studies. Dr Rad Majid Movahedi, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, Civil and Transport Engineering, mentioned sustainable construction solutions, intelligent support structure design and water management as their main research topics. Dr Péter Smuk, Dean of the Ferenc Deák Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, spoke about the opportunities for cooperation in the field of law. "We collaborate with other faculties and disciplines, and we deal with interdisciplinary issues such as cybersecurity law, artificial intelligence, space law and environmental law," he added.

iStudy, the Nanjing Shuangri Education & Technology Co., Ltd, played a key role in organising the meeting. Representing the company, which has been in contact with 19 Hungarian institutions since 2004, Rao Sha gave a short presentation in which he stressed that their mission is to create more Chinese-Hungarian partnerships.

Yantai University and Széchenyi István University sealed their commitment to the relationship with a cooperation agreement (Photo: Márton Horváth)