From July 15 to 22, President Song Wenlong led a delegation to Australia and New Zealand, visiting AEMG Academy, James Cook University, the University of Technology Sydney and the University of Auckland.

At AEMG Academy, President Song Wenlong and his delegation met with Prof. Andrew Roberts, who is Vice President of Academic Affairs of AEMG Academy and Academician of the Australian Academy of Sciences, and the two sides fully exchanged views on the joint cultivation of high-level professionals and the establishment of a high-level international scientific research platform. Afterwards, Song Wenlong attended the inauguration ceremony of the Aulin Joint Research Institute co-sponsored by Northeast Forestry University and AEMG Academy, and delivered a speech.

The Aulin Joint Research Institute, affiliated to Northeast Forestry University, is set up to promote high-level international professional cultivation and international research cooperation. There are two international research centers under the institute, which are Intelligent Forestry Research Center and Forest Source Chemistry and Material Research Center. Its overseas partner universities currently include the University of Auckland in New Zealand, the University of Western Australia in Australia, the University of Technology Sydney, James Cook University and AEMG Academy.

President Song Wenlong of NEFU and Vice President of AEMG Academy inaugurated

the Aulin Joint Research Institute.

At James Cook University (JCU), President Song Wenlong held talks with Prof. Simon Biggs, the President of JCU, and Prof. Marcus Lane, the Vice President of JCU. Song Wenlong said that James Cook University was one of the top research universities in Australia, ranking in the top 50 globally in ecology and environmental sciences, and had a high international reputation in the fields of marine science, agriculture and forestry. He also said that the disciplines and specialties of JCU had a high degree of fit with NEFU, and full-fledged cooperation in areas of ecology, forestry etc. could be implemented. President Simon Biggs said that the educational cooperation with NEFU was of great significance to James Cook University, and that the two sides could carry out broad-field and deep-level cooperation in the future in the areas of faculty scientific research cooperation and joint cultivation of students. After the meeting, President Song Wenlong and President Simon Biggs jointly conferred a plaque to the Aulin Joint Research Institute.

During the visit, the delegation also held talks with Prof. Ronald White, Dean of the College of Science and Engineering of James Cook University, and other scholars, to deliberate on faculty research cooperation and student joint cultivation programs.

President Song Wenlong met with President Simon Biggs of James Cook University.

President Song Wenlong and President Simon of James Cook University conferred a plaque to

the Aulin Joint Research Institute.

At the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), President Song Wenlong and his delegation held talks with Iain Watt, Executive Vice President of UTS and others. Song Wenlong congratulated the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) on its achievement of being listed 90th in the QS World University Rankings 2024, entering the world’s top 100, and being ranked 1st in Australia and 9th globally in the Emerging Universities Ranking. He said that the main purpose of the visit was to carry out face-to-face in-depth discussions on the joint declaration of Sino-foreign cooperative education projects and institutions on the basis of good communication in the previous period, with a view to reaching a consensus and launching the declaration as soon as possible. Vice President Iain Watt welcomed Song Wenlong and his delegation to UTS, said that UTS was a world leader in artificial intelligence, computer science and other disciplines, and hoped to carry out Sino-foreign cooperative education with NEFU in related disciplines. Subsequently, the two sides carried out in-depth exchanges on specific matters such as majors, courses, and the declaration schedule of the Chinese-foreign cooperative education, and reached a consensus. At the end of the meeting, President Song Wenlong and Vice President Iain Watt signed a cooperation framework agreement on behalf of the two universities and jointly conferred a plaque to the Aulin Joint Research Institute. During the visit, the delegation also visited the 3D printing lab of the University of Technology Sydney and the only 3D data venue of all Australian universities.

President Song Wenlong of NEFU and Iain Watt, Vice President of University of Technology Sydney (UTS)

signed a cooperation framework agreement.

President Song Wenlong and Iain Watt, Vice President of University of Technology Sydney (UTS)

conferred a plaque to the Aulin Joint Research Institute.

President Song Wenlong and his delegation visited the 3D printing lab of

the University of Technology Sydney (UTS).

During the stay at the University of Auckland, Song Wenlong and his delegation met with Prof. Dawn Freshwater, President of the University of Auckland, and Prof. Eric Lysander, Executive Vice President of the University of Auckland. Both sides renewed the cooperation framework agreement and conferred a plaque to the Aulin Joint Research Institute. The University of Auckland is listed 68th in the QS World University Rankings 2024. President Song Wenlong congratulated it, and said that the University of Auckland was an important partner of Northeast Forestry University. Since the establishment of Aulin College in 2019, the two sides have joined hands to overcome the adverse effects of the epidemic. Benefiting from the qualified educational resources of the University of Auckland, Aulin College has steadily improved its education and teaching, polished its quality assurance mechanism, and achieved a remarkable result on its professional cultivation in the past four years. He hoped that on the basis of the successful completion of the first cycle of cooperation, the two sides would further collaborate and develop Aulin College into a model Chinese-foreign cooperative educational institution. Dawn Freshwater, President of the University of Auckland, said that Northeast Forestry University was a trustworthy partner of the University of Auckland. The two sides were in the same boat during the epidemic, overcoming the difficulties and hardships together. The construction and development of Aulin College now has made great achievements. Currently there are more than 230 students studying in Aulin College. She also extended appreciation to NEFU for setting up the Overseas Learning Center of Auckland University to provide the study venue for the students who were unable to return to the University of Auckland due to the COVID-19 epidemic. She also expressed the wish to fully support Aulin College in the post-epidemic period and welcomed more students of the Aulin College to study in the exchange program of the University of Auckland.

President Song Wenlong held a talk with Dawn Freshwater, President of the University of Auckland

and exchanged gifts.

President Song Wenlong and Eric, Vice President of the University of Auckland, conferred a plaque to

the Aulin Joint Research Institute.

After the meeting, Song Wenlong attended the Outstanding Student Scholarship Awarding Ceremony, awarded certificates and delivered speeches to the 25 outstanding students of Aulin College studying in the University of Auckland, who received scholarships from the University of Auckland and sponsored by the Presidential Scholarship of Northeast Forestry University. President Song Wenlong hoped that the NEFU students would cherish the opportunity to study at the University of Auckland, work hard to obtain professional knowledge, experience multiculturalism, and continue to expand their international vision and enhance their scientific research ability. After the awarding ceremony, Song Wenlong also visited six NEFU teachers who were studying and researching at the University of Auckland.

President Song Wenlong and the students sponsored by the Presidential Scholarships of NEFU

President Song Wenlong and the NEFU teachers researching at the University of Auckland

President Song Wenlong led the delegation to visit Australia and New Zealand to reach consensus and expand cooperation with counterparts, which enhanced the friendly relationship between NEFU and top partner universities in Australia and New Zealand, extended the field of in-depth cooperation, and promoted the substantive cooperation between NEFU and the universities in Australia and New Zealand. In the future, NEFU will continue to implement the strategy of opening up high-level education to the outside world and make greater contributions to the exchange and cooperation in science and education between China, Australia and New Zealand.