A cloud-based ‘virtual’ campus will be the focus of a new agreement signed by two of Australia and China’s leading universities earlier this year.
The ‘C-Campus’ agreement between the University of Melbourne and Tsinghua University will deliver joint classes and ‘e-subjects’ for students at both institutions, starting with advanced courses on separation science and technology in chemical engineering.
It will also function as a platform for research collaboration across disciplines including chemical engineering and medicine, with more disciplines being added progressively.
Both universities have committed to establish seed funds to stimulate further joint research and innovation in online learning.
The agreement expands on a 25-year history of collaboration between the two universities and a 2013 agreement that provides for joint PhD degrees, the first time Tsinghua has partnered with an Australian university on a university-wide PhD agreement.
The University of Melbourne’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Glyn Davis said the C-Campus would provide new opportunities for both universities.
“This agreement will act as a platform to support Tsinghua-Melbourne cooperation across research, education and innovation, and support the implementation of new web-based learning tools.”
“We’ve been very pleased with the existing work we have done with Tsinghua University, such as that led by Prof Peter Scales and the Australia-China Joint Research Centre on River Basin Management. This new agreement is an exciting next step.”
This current agreement comes just months after the launch of the Melbourne Asia Research Network.
It is the second C-Campus established by Tsinghua, following an agreement with Sweden’s Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in 2012.
“To respond to the strong trend of online education, C-Campus is a new attempt to make use of virtual technologies and share the elite courses between Tsinghua and its prestigious partners in the world. We are pleased to make it happen with Melbourne,” said Professor CHEN Jining, President of Tsinghua University.
The ‘C’ in C-Campus has multiple connotations, from cloud learning to co-operation, cyber innovation to cross discipline. “It is an advanced model for real-time interactive e-teaching, e-learning, e-seminars, and other web-based activities, which will be of great benefit to international cooperation in a more convenient and effective way,” said Professor ZHANG Yi, Vice Provost of Tsinghua.
“Melbourne and Tsinghua have a longstanding strategic relationship which includes research collaborations in multiple disciplines, student exchange programmes and summer schools in Melbourne for outstanding Tsinghua undergraduates,” said Professor Davis.
“This is an outstanding opportunity to further expand our relationship with one of China’s most renowned universities.”
