Organisation - April 19, 2012

University wants outpost in Xiamen

Educating the Chinese in China: this is the principle behind the idea of founding a university campus in the Chinese province of Fujian. The plan is for a collaboration between UC Davis in California and Xiamen University. Rector Martin Kropff, board member Tijs Breukink and education director Tiny van Boekel will be visiting Xiamen in June for exploratory talks.

Initially an agrifood programme will be set up at Xiamen University, and this will need accreditation and funding. The province seems to be willing to fund the degree programme and companies will offer bursaries. The next stage will be to develop a joint degree in which students can choose whether to study in Xiamen, California or Wageningen. If they choose Wageningen, they will get a Wageningen degree, which will make it easier to obtain a PhD position or a job in Europe or the US. The lecturers will be drawn from all three institutions. Some of the teaching will be done on the internet but lecturers will also be flown in from Wageningen.
Xiamen lies on the south coast of China, opposite Taiwan. Wageningen UR is already involved on the campus of Xiamen University, where a horticultural development centre was opened in April 2011. The access road to the centre is called Wageningen Road.