The opening ceremony of the Fudan-Vienna Strategic Partners Week was held on November 2. Fudan-Vienna Strategic Partners Weeks aims to deepen mutual understanding and identify future directions of cooperation between scholars from Fudan University and the University of Vienna.
Vice President of Fudan University Chen Zhimin recalled the signature of the strategic partnership agreement between the two universities during his visit to the University of Vienna in 2019. Despite the fact that most of the previous arrangements for exchanges and cooperation were disrupted due to the pandemic, he was glad to see that the online student summer program and online academic exchanges between faculties were able to continue. Chen said that Fudan University values its strategic partnership with the University of Vienna, and thanked the University of Vienna for its strong support for the exchanges of students and faculties in recent years. The congratulatory message on Fudan’s 115th anniversary sent by President of the University of Vienna Heinz W. Engl reflects the deep bond between the two sides. This online Strategic Partners Week would be another promising attempt of how the two universities can strengthen their collaborations in spite of the pandemic, and would lay a good foundation for future offline cooperation.
Vice President of the University of Vienna Jean-robert Tyran said the two universities have been enjoying a closer relationship since Chen’s visit in 2019 and the signature of the strategic partnership agreement. Tyran thanked Fudan for its contribution to this event and hoped that scholars and experts from various fields could exchange new ideas in the coming week.
Pan Tianshu, professor from the School of Social Development and Public Policy at Fudan University, gave a speech titled “Shanghai nostalgia” based on his PhD research topic during his study at Harvard, and expounded the history and culture of Shanghai as an international metropolis. Philipp Ther, professor of eastern European history at the University of Vienna, briefly explained the social transformation of eastern European countries after the end of the Cold War employing the Karl Polany’s theory, and provided comparative studies based on statistics and analysis.
Lu Li’an, director of the Office of Global Partnerships at Fudan University, expressed gratitude to everyone’s effort that led to the successful organization of this Strategic Partners Week. She hopes to promote exchanges and cooperation through this platform, consolidating the strategic partnership between the two universities. The opening ceremony was presided over by Barbara Good, head of the International Office at the University of Vienna.
The opening ceremony was followed with sub-sessions on philosophy and communication. In the week after the opening ceremony, the two universities held a number of online academic lectures on environmental science, mathematics, history, philosophy, communication, political science, German literature, art and philosophy, teaching German and so on.
Presented by Fudan University Media Center
