A delegation of five Warwick researchers from the Department of Chemistry visited China’s Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in November to explore joint projects in areas ranging from the development of anti-cancer drugs to opportunities to harness energy from agricultural waste products.

Professors Martin Wills (synthetic organic chemistry and asymmetric catalysis), Peter O’Connor (mass spectrometry), Richard Walton (solid state inorganic chemistry) and Drs Jonathan Rourke (inorganic and organometallic chemistry) and Isolda Romero Canelon (bioinorganic chemistry) took part in a three-day workshop at SUSTech from November 20-22, 2016 during which they discussed opportunities to work together on key global challenges, supported by Warwick’s recently-signed PhD mobility agreement with SUSTech.

Warwick signed a five-year Collaborative PhD Mobility Agreement with SUSTech in August 2016. The agreement - the first of its type between SUSTech and a European university - enables specially selected students from SUSTech to enrol on Warwick doctoral programmes.

The students will spend the first two years of their training at Warwick, followed by another two years at SUSTech, benefitting from a supervisor at each partner University throughout and eventually receiving a Warwick doctoral degree. The first five students are expected to arrive at Warwick in 2017.

The Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) is a public university founded in 2011 in Shenzhen, one of the most prosperous and dynamic metropolises in China. SUSTech is positioned to be a top-tier research university that excels in interdisciplinary research, nurtures innovative talents and delivers new knowledge to the world.

Since establishment, the university has been widely regarded as a pioneer and innovator that catalyses the Chinese higher education reform, and has received world-wide attention as a promising young university of science and technology.

The Nature Index 2016 Rising Stars has ranked SUSTech as the 62nd among the top 100 institutions world-wide for high-quality science. (To learn more about SUSTech, please visit http://sustc.edu.cn/en/.)