Peking University and U of T Continue Collaboration

The University of Toronto and China’s Peking University (PKU) have renewed their commitment to collaborate by signing a Memorandum of Understanding that will build on existing research and education collaborations in Medicine and Engineering, and Education. 

The new agreement will facilitate faculty and student mobility, and support further research, and education  initiatives between the two institutions. President David Naylor welcomed the PKU delegation, led by Chairman Zhu Shanlu, Peking University’s council chair.

Both the president and Yansong Li, vice-president of Peking University, said they hoped to find new ways in which U of T can work with Peking University in research and development.

“The University of Toronto is the best university and very strong in medicine, social sciences and science, so through this agreement we hope to strengthen the relations between these two great universities. We think it’s a win-win situation. I’m very pleased with our discussions here.”

Peking University was founded in 1898 and was originally known as the Imperial University of Peking. It was the first national university in China covering comprehensive disciplines and has been a leading institution of higher education in China since its establishment.  Peking University hopes to determine complementary strengths and potential areas for collaboration and identify Initiatives that support expanding relationship between U of T and PKU.

Some of the initiatives with PKU include:

• A  university-wide student exchange program facilitated by U of T’s  Centre for International Experience and PKU;
• Faculty of Medicine’s Department of Molecular Genetics  to collaborate on biomedical research; 
• A research partnership between the Graduate School of Education at Peking and OISE for SSHRC project China’s Move to Higher Education: Implications for civil Society and Global Cultural Dialogue Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering’s Cross-Cultural Capstone Design program led by the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering.

The agreement was signed on behalf of U of T by President Naylor and for PKU, by Chairman Zhu Shanlu, Peking University Council Chairman.

U of T & China

University of Toronto’s connection to China dates back to 1909 with the first international students from China studying at the University of Toronto and continues today with over 20 agreements with institutions in China. UofT is also home to over 4,000 international undergraduate and graduate students. China is a leading destination for student mobility and research collaborations with over 1200 co-authored publications in the last 5 years and over 500 students who have taken part in study abroad or student exchanges.