On December 17, 2025, Professor Karena Yan, Dean of the J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics at the University of Galway, Ireland, led a delegation to visit our school. Professor Wei Gu, Dean of our school, attended the meeting. The two sides engaged in in-depth and productive discussions on the potential for further collaboration in academic research, talent cultivation, faculty and student exchanges, and international cooperation.
Members accompanying Dean Karena Yan included Ms. Sarah O’Mahony, Head of International Engagement at the Shannon College of Hotel Management, and Mr. Adrian Larkin, Head of Marketing and Recruitment. From our side, participants included Zhou Si, Foreign Affairs Assistant and Associate Professor in the Department of Finance, and Wang Liukai, Deputy Director of the Department of Finance.
During the meeting, both parties focused on key topics such as student exchange programs, integrated “4+1” bachelor–master joint training schemes, and the potential development of dual-degree programs. Dean Karena Yan expressed that the J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics is willing to build on the existing strong partnership and further expand collaboration, particularly by exploring joint research and teaching opportunities in interdisciplinary fields.
Dean Wei Gu extended a warm welcome to the delegation and noted that, in the context of increasing global integration in higher education, strengthening strategic partnerships with world-class business schools is a crucial pathway to enhancing our school’s international influence. He emphasized that this visit should serve as an opportunity to establish more efficient and diverse platforms for exchange between faculty and students of both institutions.
Following the meeting, the delegation toured our financial laboratory, library resources center, and selected teaching facilities, and held interactive discussions with current postgraduate students. This visit not only consolidated the existing partnership between the two institutions but also laid a solid foundation for substantive collaboration across broader areas and at a higher level in the future.
Contributed by: Office of International Cooperation and Exchange
Edited by: Wang Pinpin
