In 2009, the Royal Society of Chemistry signed a cooperation agreement with the State Administration for Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA), a division of the Chinese Government. As part of a wider governmental initiative to enhance the global impact of Chinese science and China’s higher education institutions, the RSC and SAFEA provide funding for a Visiting Researchers Programme. This encourages academics from the UK to visit Chinese universities to share best practice, advise Chinese researchers on presenting their research to an international audience and to stimulate collaboration between UK and Chinese institutions.
 
This blog provides a space for participants to share their experiences and for the RSC to highlight the opportunities that stem from the SAFEA programme.

*The map is reproduced from the United Nations Statistics Division
 

Carl Redshaw recounts his two trips to China this year

Professor Carl Redshaw, newly moved to the University of Hull, has just got back from his second trip to China this year.

Earlier in 2012, he visited Hunan Normal University, Changsa and he has recently returned from his trip to the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing.

Read more about both of his trips here...

Part 1: Visit to Hunan Normal University, Changsha
 
Day 1. Arrive at Changsha airport approx two hours late due to delayed flight – met by a group of students (with flowers) and taken to Red Hotel on campus for banquet with representatives of Hunan Normal University (including the Director of International Exchange and Cooperation: Jianwen Tang) and the RSC (Kathleen Too).
 
Day 2. 9am-11am. Visit to the Hunan Provincial Museum with a group of the students.
6pm-9pm. Taken to dinner by a different group of students and then to watch a fireworks display from the riverside.
 
Day 3. 10am-12.30pm. A visit to Orange Island with a third group of students, followed by lunch.
 
Day 4. 10am-11.30am. Lectured to a class of students (approx. 30, including some of those I had already met) on olefin polymerization.
3pm-5pm. Judged an English speech competition (13 speakers). The standard was very good.



Day 5. 10am-11.30am. Lectured to the same class of students on olefin polymerization II.
1.30pm-4pm. Visit (by foot) to the top of the Yuelu Mountain with a couple of students.
 
Day 6. 9.30am Changed hotel (to a very noisy one).
10am-11.30am. Lectured to the class of students on olefin polymerization III.
3pm-4pm. Discussion class with the same students; a variety of questions were asked ranging from the current financial crisis in Greece to what programmes are most popular on English TV..
4pm-5pm. Discussion with six members of faculty plus Dean and RSC representative (Chunxiao Zheng). The faculty members introduced themselves and their research areas, but the level of English made it difficult to have in-depth conversations.
5pm-7pm. Dinner with the Dean, three members of faculty, plus the RSC representative (Chunxiao Zheng).


 
Day 7. 10am - 11.30am The RSC introductory talk (by Chunxiao Zheng) was followed by my research seminar. The audience was mostly undergraduates, plus a few postgraduates.
11.30-1pm. Lunch with one member of faculty (same one who attended the seminar), RSC representative (Chunxiao Zheng) and four of the students.
1.30pm Departed for airport. Flight delayed 3 hours.

 

As can be seen from the above, I was kept busy during my week in Changsha, particularly by the students, with a variety of academic activities and visits to local landmarks. The students I met were very friendly and keen to engage both in and outside of the classroom.

Part 2: Visit to the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing.
 
Day 1. Arrived at Beijing airport and met by one of the students and taken to the hotel. Due to the heavy rain (there had been heavy flooding a couple of days earlier), we were advised to stay in the hotel and remain there for dinner.
 
Day 2: A shopping trip was organised to the Silk market with the students followed by a hot pot meal with our host Prof Wen-Hua Sun and his two assistants.
 
Day 3: A tour of the labs at the Institute was organised and impromptu chats with the students on their progress were held. This was followed by a trip to the Birds Nest Olympic stadium to watch Arsenal v Man City.



Day 4: Dinner was arranged with Prof Sun and Prof. Chanjuan XI of Tsinghua University.



Day 5: A meeting was held with Prof Bo Wang of BIT (Beijing Institute of Technology), which included a tour of the lab facilities. Screening of samples made in the UK for gas uptake was discussed. In the afternoon, a trip to the CCTV Tower was organised for views of Beijing.



 Day 6: A busy day started at 9 am with my research seminar followed by a question and answer session and continued until 4 pm with discussions on research projects past and present in the Sun group. Future directions for the Sun/Redshaw collaboration were discussed. Following this meeting, the dozen or so students joined members of faculty for a hot pot dinner.

Day 7: A student was interviewed with a view to coming to the UK for an MSc.
 
Posted by Amy Styring on Sep 18, 2012 3:24 PM Europe/London

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