‘Global challenges call for international knowledge exchange’
A delegation from Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China, is on a two-day visit to Leiden University. The aim is to explore opportunities for further collaboration and to exchange knowledge with this leading Chinese university.
The two-day visit began at Campus The Hague on Thursday, with discussions focusing on interdisciplinary and international research and teaching, and continued in Leiden on Friday, where the delegation was introduced to, among others, the unique China Studies programme.
For Leiden, this visit is valuable because it creates opportunities for Leiden students to take part in programmes in China; however, it will also create new exchange possibilities in the other direction. There is also potential for research collaboration between Zhejiang and Leiden.
On Friday, a reception was held at the Academy Building in Leiden, during which President of the Executive Board, Luc Sels, and his counterpart from Zhejiang University, Yanming Ma, signed a cooperation agreement that will create opportunities for student exchanges.
‘With our unique Chinese Studies programme and the centuries of exchange between researchers in the two countries, we see collaboration with China, and in this case with Zhejiang University, as essential to high-quality research and teaching’, said Luc Sels. ‘Zhejiang is strong across all of Leiden’s disciplines, enabling us to foster research partnerships throughout the university. This is especially important because today’s global challenges demand academic dialogue, mutual understanding and the international exchange of knowledge.’
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Luc Sels and Yanming Ma signing a cooperation agreement that will create opportunities for student exchanges. -
Ludo Waltman explains the CWTS Leiden Ranking 2025. -
Luc Sels and Yanming Ma look at a print presented after the agreement was signed.
Top of the CWTS ranking
In the CWTS Leiden Ranking 2025 , Zhejiang emerged as the highest-ranked university in volume of publications, much to the delight of the delegation. After the signing ceremony, they were given a detailed explanation of how this ranking by Leiden CWTS researchers was compiled, and staff from Leiden presented our Academia in Motion approach. This university-wide initiative was designed to recognise and reward the varied contributions of staff, and places a strong emphasis on collaboration.
The programme also included visits to other locations, including the LUMC, the Leiden Bio Science Park and the Hertha Mohr building. At the Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR), the discussions focused on shared interests in pharmaceutical research, while at the Faculty of Humanities, the spotlight was on Chinese Studies. Leiden is the only university in the Netherlands to offer this three-year bachelor’s programme, in which students gain knowledge about the language and culture of this important country.
Call for languages and area studies
In an opinion piece published in Trouw newspaper earlier this week, Sels called for continued investment in the humanities and social and behavioural sciences, including languages and area studies – something China is already doing. ‘Anyone investing in technology today without paying equal attention to languages, history, law and society is building half a knowledge infrastructure’, he wrote. ‘A university that only produces without understanding ultimately leaves its society vulnerable.’ For him, these points also reinforced the importance of discussing the choices made in Hangzhou.
And, as no visit by a delegation from China would be complete without it, the programme concluded at the University Library’s Asian Library.