Partnering with the Best for Research and Postgraduate Studies in the UK

Visit to University of Essex

Professor Joshua Mok, Vice President and Professor Leng Ming-ming, Dean of Faculty of Business, visited three leading universities in the UK to develop stronger links with these institutions for enhancing research and postgraduate studies. At the University of Essex, Professor Mok and Professor Leng met the senior management of the School of Business and Faculty of Humanities and colleagues from the Partnership Office. Productive conversations among colleagues from both universities led to an agreement to promote PhD student exchange, joint PhD, joint master and joint undergraduate degree programmes.

Visit to the University of Bath

The visit to the University of Bath also bore fruits, including a two-year action plan for the Joint Research Centre for Education in China and East Asia, co-launched by University of Bath and Lingnan University in March 2019 at the Bath University. Centre Co-directors Professor Andrea Abbasand Xiulan, together with senior colleagues from Education Department Professor Hugh Lauder, joined the meeting with Professor Joshua Mok, Core International Member and Member of the Steering Committee of the Joint Research Centre, for conceiving research programmes and collaborative projects. Two broad research themes of “Higher Education, Labour Market and Sustainability” and “Well-being, Inclusion and Education” are the framework of the research programmes of the Centre. Agreements were reached to promote PhD student learning through the co-organisation of the International Summer School for Postgraduate Studies with a focus on research methodology at Lingnan University in June 2020, co-organising annual conference of the Joint Research Centre, and promoting student mobility through sending students from Bath to Lingnan to join the annual postgraduate student conference in March.

The visit to the Bath School of Management was just as productive. Agreements were reached to promote PhD student exchange, and to explore joint degrees in Doctor of Policy Studies (Lingnan) and Doctor of Business Administration in Higher Education Management (Bath). Collaboration was also explored in co-developing the Lingnan-Bath Master in International Higher Education and Management (IHEM) to enhance students’ international and comparative perspective and analytical ability regarding management issues in higher education.

Visit to University of York

The visit to the University York was equally exciting. Professor Leng met Professor Mark Freeman, Dean of York School of Management, and they came to the agreement to co-develop an inter-university research centre with a focus on supply chain and finance. Built upon strong research links and collaboration, both business schools will develop joint PhD programmes in business.

Professor Joshua Mok met Professor John Hudson, Head of Social Policy and Social Work, and came to the agreement to promote PhD student exchange, developing Joint-Doctor of Policy Studies programme and Joint Master in Comparative Social Policy. Serious discussion on developing a joint PhD programme with a focus on Global Policy and Development Studies was conducted. What was equally exciting was that York’s Social Policy and Social Work agreed to join force with Lingnan’s research teams to co-develop research programmes in comparative social policy and development and comparative social care studies. Professor John Hudson and Professor Yvonne Birks, Director of Research for Social Care at York, will lead a delegation to visit Lingnan in June 2020 to join the East Asia Social Policy Research Network Conference hosted by Lingnan. Research teams from York will join the Lingnan-South China University of Technology Joint Research Centre of Greater Bay Area Social Policy and Governance as Associate Research Fellows for developing new research projects and joint-publications. In short, the visits to Essex, Bath and York will help enhance research collaboration and create wonderful learning opportunities for students from Lingnan and these leading universities in the UK.