Strategic Partner Peking University

The University of Vienna recently signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement with the prestigious Peking University (China) in March 2019. Thus, the University of Vienna succeeded in institutionalising the scientific exchange with one of the world's leading universities in research.

Peking University is excellently placed in international university rankings (ranked #31 in THE World University Rankings 2019, ranked #30 in QS World University Rankings 2019) and is often referred to as the Chinese Harvard. It is a comprehensive "National Key University" of the People's Republic of China and, with 50 schools, covers a broad range of subjects, with more than 200 research institutes and centers affiliated with it.

Joining a high-caliber group

The University of Vienna is thus joining a high-caliber group of Strategic Partner Universities of Peking University, which also includes University College London, Freie Universität Berlin and the University of Helsinki. "I am delighted that with Peking University we have already secured the fourth top international university as a Strategic Partner," says Jean-Robert Tyran, Vice Rector for Research and International Affairs. "We have come a good deal closer to our goal of increasing the number of Strategic Partner Universities to a total of five."

The campus of Peking University is located on the site of a former imperial garden. (© Wikipedia/endeneon, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Close scientific cooperation

The focused use of additional resources from both partner universities promotes close scientific cooperation. The university is thus setting the course for sustainable, top-class bilateral research. The internationalisation strategy of the University of Vienna identifies East Asia as a focus region. Peking University is a second major partner in this region alongside Kyoto University (Research Partnership). Further Strategic Partner Universities of the University of Vienna are the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel) and the University of Chicago (USA).

"Data Science"

As a next step, the scientists Torsten Möller, Nikolaus Hautsch and Radu Ioan Bot from the research platform "Data Science" of the University of Vienna will visit Peking University in the spring of 2019 to prepare cooperation in the field of "Data Science".

The International Office of the University of Vienna supports cooperation activities with Strategic Partner Universities through funding programs such as Mobility Fellowships (for research activities of three weeks to three months for predocs, postdocs and professors), invitations from guest speakers and Joint Seminars (for workshops to develop joint research projects). Participation in these programs will be open for activities with Peking University in fall 2019.