The University of Leeds partnership with Southwest Jiaotong University (SWJTU) is primarily focused on student education and characterized by our Joint School of Engineering and Computer Science.
The Leeds-SWJTU Joint School based in Chengdu, China, is the first overseas School set up by the University of Leeds. Established in 2015, it is our flagship international teaching collaboration, which offers a unique curriculum that combines the best aspects of the UK and the Chinese education systems. It demonstrates how two high-achieving institutions can successfully collaborate to create new teaching, research and student experience opportunities in the fields of engineering and computer science.
Both universities are exploring new ways to broaden and deepen our partnership in student education, enhancing student experience and employability as well as increasing research collaborations to address global challenges, such as climate change.
The Leeds-SWJTU Joint School offers a range of programmes in engineering and science, with teaching delivered by a combination of Leeds, SWJTU, and specially recruited Joint School staff. Students at the Joint School earn dual degrees from both the University of Leeds and SWJTU and have the opportunity to spend part of their degree in Leeds.
Sun Jingwen, a graduating student in Civil Engineering from SWJU Leeds Joint School shared:
“In addition to good professional quality, the teaching of Leeds’ system focuses on cultivating our fluent speech, expression, strong self-learning skills and practice. During my four years of study, our joint school provided us with an excellent practice platform, so I participated in plenty of competitions like Internet+ Innovation Competition, which obtained good rankings and laid the foundation for applying to schools for future study.”
Jingwen will now go on to study civil engineering in Tongji University in Shanghai, which is ranked second in China and 16th in the world for that subject by QS.
Research collaborations are another important aspect of the partnership with Southwest Jiaotong University. One notable project, ‘On the Multiple Access and Coding Problems in Massive IoT’, addressed fundamental challenges in Internet-of-Things (IoT) communications. As one of the first funded joint research collaborations between our institutions, this project was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), and led to significant advancements in IoT technology, particularly in improving data transmission efficiency and reliability.
Our institutions have committed to further collaboration in research by establishing a Dual PhD programme, focussing on our shared research interests. This programme not only enriches students’ academic and professional development but also contributes to advancing research in various fields through international collaboration.
Another significant element of our partnership is the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) initiative, developed by Dr. Martin Ward, Associate Professor of Chinese and Japanese Translation at the University of Leeds.
The COIL module, led by academics from both Leeds and SWJTU, enables undergraduate students from both universities to engage in bilingual sessions, working together to translate complex texts. Students gain invaluable cultural insights and learn collaboratively, enhancing their global competencies, without the need for travel. This aspect of our partnership exemplifies how digital platforms can bridge geographical gaps and create enriching educational experiences.