UQ gains seat at key China table

中文译文请见链接 Chinese translation

A key global organisation for Chinese scholarship and culture has added The University of Queensland’s President and Vice-Chancellor to its senior consultancy board.

The Confucius Institutes’ headquarters, known as Hanban, this week formalised the appointment of Professor Peter Høj as a senior consultant.

Professor Høj is one of only 16 senior consultants, and is the first from a university in Australia and the Oceania region.

He anticipates advising on processes to select scholarship and fellowship applicants, targeting their potential towards projects of regional and global importance.

There are about 460 Confucius Institutes worldwide, including 13 in Australia.

Hanban invites ‘well-known scholars, public figures and entrepreneurs’ to be senior consultants.

At a meeting in Beijing on 12 November, Hanban’s deputy minister-level Director-General Madam Xu Lin welcomed the newest senior consultant and highlighted UQ’s role in the Australia-China relationship.

She noted UQ’s global connections and innovations, including the human papillomavirus vaccine, the vaccine against cervical cancer co-invented at UQ by Professor Ian Frazer and the late Dr Jian Zhou, and given to tens of millions of women and girls.

Professor Høj thanked Madam Xu for the honour, which he said reflected the work of many UQ staff, alumni and students.

“For decades, UQ people have built and maintained relationships with people from China and the Chinese diaspora, and have forged highly-productive collaborations in research, education and business.

“Today we have many exceptional China-born, China-based and China-literate staff, students and alumni, and a very dynamic Confucius Institute.

“I hope to do justice to the work of all these people and use my appointment to help enhance the global benefits flowing from Hanban’s activities,” Professor Høj said.

The appointment is honorary, with Hanban covering expenses related to the senior consultancy.

This year Tianjin University, the key partner in the UQ Confucius Institute, made Professor Høj an honorary professor.

The many other UQ staff with Chinese accolades include Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Max Lu, who gained a prestigious science and technology award from China’s leaders, and polymer chemist Professor Bob Gilbert, who was one of the first non-Chinese ‘1000 experts’.   

Media: Fiona Kennedy +61 7 3365 1384

About The University of Queensland (UQ)

The University of Queensland (UQ) is in the top 100 universities worldwide, measured through a number of major independent university rankings: the Academic Ranking of World Universities, Times Higher Education World University Rankings, QS World University Rankings, and Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities. The University's outstanding 205,000-plus alumni include a Nobel laureate, the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, an Academy Award winner, and leaders in government, law, science, public service and the arts. UQ is one of only three Australian members of the global Universitas 21, a founding member of the Group of Eight universities, and a member of Universities Australia.