The 2016 University of Michigan- Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute (UM-SJTU JI) Summer Program kicked off on May 15. A welcome ceremony was held at the Yu Liming Student Center. Sixty-eight students from the University of Michigan, Case Western Reserve University, University of Florida, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Vanderbilt University and Erlangen– Nuremberg University in Germany will spend 13 weeks studying at JI.
Viva Du, International Program coordinator briefing about JI
Each year during the summer semester (May to August) and fall semester (September to December) JI receives a large number of foreign exchange students. Besides pursuing suitable engineering courses for credit, foreign students can also take Chinese courses and experience a series of Chinese cultural activities. The exchange program provides cross- cultural opportunities for Chinese and foreign students to learn from each other. So far, more than 380 foreign students have studied at JI.
Foreign students who studied at JI in fall 2015
Meanwhile, JI students can also choose from a rich array of study-abroad programs. Since 2012 when JI joined Global E3, a global engineering student exchange organization, JI students have left their foot prints at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Georgia Tech, University of Maryland, KTH, Technical University of Munich and other famous institutions of higher learning. In 2015, JI established student exchange programs with the nine campuses of the University of California, University of Aachen in Germany, Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands and University of Troyes in France. As of November 2015, JI has established partnerships with 15 foreign institutions and more than 63 percent of JI students have various forms of study abroad experience.
JI students learning the local dance in Spain
In 2016, JI students will have more study abroad opportunities. In addition to the above-mentioned exchange programs, JI also offers short-term study abroad programs in Germany, Australia, France and Spain to enrich students’ winter breaks.
In the next few years, JI will adhere to her internationalization strategy and keep expanding international cooperation in order for all undergraduate students to have overseas learning experience before graduation.
Similarly, in scientific research, JI has been collaborating with the University of Michigan, MIT, Princeton University, Oxford University and other top foreign institutions. In early 2015, JI and the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to further promote bilateral developments in materials science, production technology, component technology, etc. In July the same year, JI and the University of Michigan signed the “Shanghai Jiao Tong University– University of Michigan Research Collaboration Agreement,” aiming to promote cooperation and exchanges of teachers and students between the two universities on nanotechnology applications and data science research projects.
As a successful example of international education cooperation, JI has been at the forefront of China’s higher education reform. Over the past decade, through fusing the Sino-US educational philosophy and characteristics, JI continues to make breakthroughs in academic structure, management system, curricula and talent training. JI has explored a shortcut to build a world-class institute in China and has shaped the famous JI model. In the future, JI will uphold her mission of “Internationalization, Interdisciplinarity, Innovation, Quality” to build a world-class teaching and research institute as a base for training global leaders.
