Guests from Shandong University and Australian National University and Weihai officials attend the launch ceremony of the SDU-ANU Joint Science College on Nov 30. [Photo/view.sdu.edu.cn]

The launch ceremony of the SDU-ANU Joint Science College was held on Nov 30 on Shandong University's Weihai campus.

Fan Liming, president of Shandong University, Zhang Haibo, mayor of Weihai, and Mike Calford, provost at Australian National University, addressed the ceremony.

In her speech, Fan stressed that the joint college represents a milestone in SDU's pursuit of Sino-foreign cooperative education. Fan said that ANU is a world famous university, and the joint college will help strengthen cooperation between the two sides.

She added that the college will promote people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and Australia and strive to become a model for international cooperation in higher education.

The Weihai Mayor expressed his hope that the joint college will make full use of the academic and scientific strength of the two universities and provide strong intellectual support for the high-quality development and internationalization of Weihai.

He also said that Weihai will continue working with SDU to provide more support for the university's development.

Professor Calford said that ANU and SDU will spare no effort in promoting the development of the college and carrying out high-quality research and teaching work.

He also said that he has high hopes for the college's first students (which will begin attending in 2019), as they will have access to top scholars from both SDU and ANU. He encouraged students to use their knowledge and skills to contribute to the public good.

The joint college has four undergraduate programs: mathematics and applied mathematics, applied physics, applied chemistry, and biological sciences. It has adopted ANU's teaching model, curriculum, and teaching resources.