Doctoral Students of the Prestigious Tsinghua University Visiting the University of Banja Luka

Rector of the University of Banja Luka Prof. Radoslav Gajanin, PhD, met with a group of 15 doctoral students of the Tsinghua University of Beijing on 21 January 2024.

As Rector Gajanin emphasized during the reception at the Rectorate, this visit is another step forward for the University of Banja Luka in cooperation with leading higher education institutions in China.

"In the forthcoming period, we will strengthen cooperation with colleagues from the prestigious Tsinghua University by exchanging professors, teaching assistants and students, as well as administrative staff. Moreover, we will cooperate in the implementation of scientific projects funded at the local level, but also by China", the rector said.

As to cooperation with China, the rector emphasizes that in the last few years the University of Banja Luka has established cooperation with several leading universities from this country. As an example of excellent cooperation, he highlighted the cooperation with Tianjin University of Technology and Education (TUTE), which is also one of the founders of the Confucius Institute of the University of Banja Luka.

"As for the number of activities organized, the Confucius Institute of the University of Banja Luka is one of the leading institutes of its kind in Europe," said the rector.

Again, the rector reminded of the fruitful cooperation between the University and Chinese universities in the past year. According to him, this year we can expect our university to become an examination centre for Serbian as a foreign language, which is the result of cooperation with the Beijing International Studies University. He also announced that in 2024, based on the recently concluded agreement on cooperation with the Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences, we expect the construction, i.e., the opening of the Innovation Centre for the International Technology Transfer in Biomedicine.

Wang Xinyi is a doctoral student at Tsinghua University and is in Banja Luka for the first time, but also in Europe.

"On our part, there is great interest in cooperation with the University of Banja Luka and the Republic of Srpska," she said.

Two professors were with the students visiting the University of Banja Luka, and one of them was Dr Chen Shiliu.

"Tsinghua University is committed to cooperation in the field of student and staff exchange, all with the aim of developing science and technology, and this visit is just the first step on that path," he said and stated that the university they come from is in many areas number one in the world.

During this visit, Asst. Prof. at the Faculty of Political Science of the University of Banja Luka Nina Sajić, PhD, gave a lecture to guests from China on the topic "The Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Cooperation with China Within the Belt and Road Initiative".

As she explained, the first part of the lecture referred to the political structure and situation in B&H and where the Republic of Srpska is within the same.

"The second part of the lecture is about relations between Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Srpska and China; what they looked like ten or fifteen years ago, but also what they look like today", Asst. Prof. Nina Sajić, PhD, said.

University of Banja Luka Confucius Institute Home Director Asst. Prof. Ljiljana Stević, PhD, says that Tsinghua University was founded in 1911 and is considered the best university in China and the world, and today it has 21 faculties where classes are held in 59 study programmes.

The visit was an opportunity for the guests to learn about the way the University of Banja Luka functions and operates, which the Vice-Rector for Material and Human Resources Prof. Dalibor Kesić, PhD, talked about.

Photo: D. Desnica