On the morning of May 18, Prof. Nick Petford, Vice Chancellor and CEO of the University of Northampton (UON) in the UK, visited TYUT. The two sides held talks on cooperation issues in meeting room 324 of the main office building. Vice President Lv Yongkang presided over the meeting.

Lv Yongkang delivered a speech on behalf of TYUT and warmly welcomed the delegation led by Vice Chancellor Nick Petford. He introduced the basic situation of TYUT, including its history, recruitment, employment, discipline construction and international exchanges etc., as well as its construction of the “double first-class” disciplines; and highlighted the development strategy of TYUT to deepen its international cooperation. Lv Yongkang highly praised Vice Chancellor Nick Petford for his research achievements. Given that UON has unique advantages in teaching and scientific research and TYUT has a strong foundation in the fields of energy, chemical industry, mining, materials, economics and management, he further stated, it is hoped that the two universities could conduct cooperation in relevant fields conducive to the sustainable development of both parties.

In the meeting, Lv Yongkang also awarded a letter of appointment to Nick Patford as a visiting professor to TYUT. Afterwards, Lv Yongkang and Nick Patford, on behalf of their respective university, signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between the two universities.

Vice Chancellor Nick Patford introduced UON and thanked TYUT for its warm reception of him and his delegation. He said that it was an honor to have the opportunity to visit TYUT; and hoped that specific cooperation projects could be carried out between the two universities at the earlies possible time so as to promote the development of both sides.

After the signing ceremony, the two parties had further discussions on cooperation projects mainly related to teaching, research, international student exchanges, collaborative curriculum construction as well as other joint programs that interest both parties.

Attending the meeting were Mr. Z Thomas Zhang, Assistant Director of the International Recruitment of UON; Yan Junqi, a Professor of UON and Communication University of China; and Gao Youxin, a professor of Communication University of China; as well as the heads of the President Office, Academic Affairs Division, International Cooperation Division, College of International Education Exchange and College of Economics and Management of TYUT.