On September 12, a delegation led by Professor Richard A. Williams, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Heriot-Watt University (UK), visited Ocean University of China (OUC). President Zhang Junfeng met with the guests, and the two sides held discussions on further deepening cooperation.

President Zhang extended a warm welcome to Principal Williams and his delegation and reviewed the fruitful outcomes of collaboration between the two universities. He noted that since the establishment of their partnership, significant progress has been made, particularly in the Sino-foreign cooperative education program in Computer Science and Technology. Earlier this year, the undergraduate program in Physics, jointly offered by the two universities, received approval from the Chinese Ministry of Education and successfully enrolled its first cohort of students, marking another important milestone in the deepening of bilateral collaboration. Meanwhile, the signing of a joint doctoral program has created a new platform for cultivating high-level talent. Zhang expressed hope that the two sides would continue to strengthen their strategic partnership, enhance cooperation in areas such as artificial intelligence and information technology, and jointly play a more active role in the International Alliance of Marine-Related Institutions. 

Principal Williams expressed his gratitude for the warm reception and highly commended the achievements of the partnership. He emphasized that Heriot-Watt University attaches great importance to its relationship with OUC and is committed to leveraging its academic strengths to jointly advance the two Sino-foreign cooperative education programs. He also looked forward to expanding collaboration in joint postgraduate training and research cooperation, with the aim of achieving more substantial and mutually beneficial results.