Polish-Chinese Cooperation Institute will be established at Bialystok University of Technology

Cooperation with foreign universities is a measure of the strength of the internationalization of our university. One of our partners is NingboTech University
(浙大宁波理工学院), with which we share joint educational and research projects, as well as the promotion of our culture and language in China. The meeting, which resulted in the extension of our cooperation, was attended by:

• Assoc. Prof. Marta Kosior-Kazberuk, DSc, PhD, Eng, Rector of Bialystok University of Technology
• Assoc. Prof. Dorota Anna Krawczyk, DSc, PhD, Eng, Vice-Rector for International Cooperation of Bialystok University of Technology
• Katarzyna Kuźmicz, PhD, Head of the Confucius Classroom of Bialystok University of Technology
• Agata Dziekońska, MSc, Head of the Mobility and International Agreements Unit at Bialystok University of Technology.

We hosted 5 delegates from NingboTech – representatives of the university authorities.

– NingboTech has been our partner for many years. We carried out an exchange of scientists and students together. We also have five years of experience in organising a summer school in the field of logistics, in which Chinese students visited BUT, and Polish students went to Ningbo and enjoyed the benefits of this form of education. At NingboTech, there is also a centre promoting the Polish language and Polish culture. Every year, the Polish Week takes place there, during which the employees of the Foreign Language Centre as part of the Polish Lab – promote our country among foreigners – says Assoc. Prof. Marta Kosior-Kazberuk, DSc, PhD, Eng, Rector of Bialystok University of Technology.

The long-term activities of both universities resulted in the idea for another project – the creation of the Polish-Chinese Cooperation Institute. The creation of a new unit is another step towards the implementation of the Strategy for the Internationalisation of Bialystok University of Technology.

– We plan to introduce the Polish-Chinese Cooperation Institute into the organisational structure of the University in the division of the Vice-Rector for International Cooperation, in place of the currently functioning Confucius Classroom. It will be a unit with a much wider range of tasks, as well as greater capabilities. Thanks to the Institute, our students will be able to continue learning Chinese with teachers from China and take part in events aimed at bringing Chinese culture closer – explains Assoc. Prof. Dorota Anna Krawczyk, DSc, PhD, Eng, Vice-Rector for International Cooperation of BUT, which sees great potential in developing forms of education that will allow our students to gain useful professional experience and skills.

Learning Chinese is not a whim, but the result of market demand. Foreign companies are increasingly looking for specialists who speak the language native to the country of Confucius.

– We will continue Chinese language courses and provide the opportunity to take exams in this language, because they are very popular. We will also continue to conduct Chinese language classes in schools under our patronage – adds the Rector.

So far, cooperation between Bialystok University of Technology and NingboTech University has brought many benefits to young people – future engineers, but there will be even more beneficiaries of developing further forms of cooperation. All thanks to the framework agreement governing our cooperation.

– The agreement entering into force today is the starting point for its specification at the faculty level. This requires mutual agreements in the field of, among others, education programmes or the establishment of the principles of double diploma. We also plan to return to the summer schools successfully organised before the Covid pandemic – summer schools for BUT students in China and for Chinese students in Poland. We count on many interesting and valuable activities both in the didactic, scientific and cultural field – explains the Vice-Rector for International Cooperation.

We are waiting for the effects of cooperation between the two universities.

Take a look at the photo gallery of the signing of agreements with NingboTech University: