Innovative pact for WIT and Chinese university

A LEADING institute of technology is forging further links with key educational hubs across the globe.

Waterford Institute of Technology has reached agreement with a leading Chinese university to become the first Irish third-level institution to deliver a four-year degree programme in China.

An agreement signed in Waterford by Dr Venie Martin, WIT’s head of development, and Li Chuncheng, vice-president of Nanjing University of Information, Science and Technology (NUIST) will see the four-year honours BSc degree in Applied Computing from WIT delivered at NUIST.

Graduates from the respected Chinese university will also begin postgraduate studies in Waterford for their masters degrees.

WIT director Kieran R Byrne said: “Dr Venie Martin and her colleagues across the institute have done excellent work in recent years on forging strong ties with overseas universities and this is the latest fruits of that labour. The staff and students from Nanjing and Waterford who participate in these exchanges will have a tremendous opportunity to learn about life in a different culture while also advancing their own studies and career prospects.

“It is obviously a particular source of excitement and pride to this institute that one of our own programmes will now be delivered at Nanjing.”

NUIST & has more than 18,000 students and more than 1,300 faculty members.

The university has 12 scientific research institutions and is located in Nanjing, a city of over six million people on the Yangtze River.