The University of Salamanca has taken a historic step in its internationalization process by inaugurating its first university campus in the People’s Republic … China. The event, chaired by the rector Juan Manuel Corchado, took place at Shandong Jianzhu University (Jinan, Shandong province) and was attended by its rector, Yu Dehu, and the Chinese educational authorities. This milestone makes the USAL is one of the only four Spanish universities currently integrated into the Sino-foreign educational program of the Chinese Central Government. The Salamancan Studio has been working for months with the Junta de Castilla y León and the ACSUCYL to accredit the campus in Spain.
The new USAL University School in Shandong has received the formal recognition by the educational authorities of the People’s Republic of China, which certifies its full academic validity in the country. This recognition is an essential requirement to operate within the framework of the Sino-foreign educational program, which regulates and protects international university centers established in Chinese territory with financing from the Central Government. The implementation of this campus has been articulated in close collaboration with the Shandong Jianzhu University, a leading institution in engineering and architecture in northern China.
Initial academic offer: three engineering degrees and a master’s degree in Artificial Intelligence
The USAL Campus in Shandong will soon offer an academic offer aimed at training highly qualified engineers. The planned programs are the following: Degree in Electrical Engineering, Degree in Computer Engineering, Degree in Mechanical Engineering and Master in Artificial Intelligence Applied to Engineering.
This offer combines disciplines in high demand in the Chinese industrial and technological sector with USAL’s differential capabilities in research and innovation. The master’s degree in AI applied to Engineering positions USAL at the forefront of technological postgraduate training in China.
USAL, among the four Spanish universities of the Sino-foreign program
The inclusion of the University of Salamanca in the Sino-foreign educational program of the Chinese Central Government places it in a select group made up of only four Spanish universities. This highly selective program finances and regulates collaboration between foreign university institutions and their Chinese counterparts, with the aim of promoting academic excellence and scientific-cultural exchange.
During the opening ceremony, Rector Corchado highlighted the strategic importance of this milestone for the international projection of the University of Salamanca: «This campus is the result of years of work, dialogue and mutual trust. “It opens a new horizon for our university in one of the most dynamic regions in the world.”
An institutional project with the involvement of several faculties
The launch of the USAL Campus in Shandong has been the result of a collective effort sustained over several years, in which various faculties and university schools from three of the institution’s four campuses in Spain have actively participated: Salamanca, Zamora and Béjar. The transversal dimension of the project has made it possible to mobilize knowledge and experience from different academic areas and integrate them into a coherent and competitive training proposal on an international scale.
A decisive role in the coordination and promotion of the project has been played by the Vice-Rectorate for Internationalization and Cooperation, responsible for articulating the negotiations with the Chinese authorities and guaranteeing compliance with the demanding requirements of the Sino-foreign educational program. In a very special way, it has been the rector Juan Manuel Corchado himself who has personally led this process from its earliest stages, giving it the strategic vision and institutional commitment necessary to complete it successfully.
An exhibition on the historical role of USAL
After the opening ceremony, the first event held on the new campus has been an exhibition dedicated to the role of the University of Salamanca in Spanish cultural life throughout its more than eight centuries of history. The exhibition covers the institution’s contribution to thought, arts, letters and science in Spain, and aims to bring the Chinese university public closer to the rich cultural heritage that USAL embodies as one of the oldest universities in the world.
The exhibition also constitutes a first gesture of cultural diplomacy between both institutions, in line with USAL’s vocation to build bridges between Spain and China through knowledge and culture.
