China and the U.K. recently agreed to over £50 million of joint innovative research programmes to tackle global issues like climate change, long-term renewable energy supplies, and human diseases.
Universities and Science Minister David Willetts joined Chinese Ambassador to the U.K. Liu Xiaoming at the U.K.-China Summit to sign an agreement for the first programmes of the joint U.K.-China Research and Innovation Partnership Fund.
The two countries approved the programmes, worth £53 million, and a wider five-year implementation plan of the fund, which will eventually include deals worth a total of £200 million to 2019.
The programmes, of which costs will be split equally between China and the U.K., include:
o a £23 million scientific research programme—led in the U.K. by the Met Office—that will help build
the basis for services to protect against extreme weather and prepare for a changing climate in Asia
o £16 million of joint research partnerships—led in the U.K. by Research Councils U.K.—to support
advances in marine energy, regenerative medicine and stem cells, atmospheric pollution, and
human health, and sustaining the soil ecosystem
o £14 million of Newton Fellowships to provide the opportunity for Chinese and U.K. researchers to
develop meaningful collaborations with scientists in one another's country
It was also announced that U.K.-based social learning platform FutureLearn will grow and partner with its first Chinese universities—Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Fudan University—to create high-quality educational experiences for learners in China, and all over the world, through free online courses.
The partnership will provide both Chinese universities with a digital platform to reach thousands of learners globally through massive open online courses and connect those students with a range of academic, leisure, and career-enhancing courses from leading U.K. and international institutions.
Please click here to read the full press release by the U.K. Department for Business, Innovation, and Skills.
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