On April 11, 2016, Frank Pacard, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Research at Ecole Polytechnique (L’X), and Gaëlle Le Goff, Head of the International Development Office of L’X, visited Peking University (PKU). Li Yansong, Vice President of PKU; Zheng Ruqing, Deputy Director of the Office of International Relations; Zhang Zhifei and Shi Yuguang, Vice Deans of the PKU School of Mathematical Sciences, welcomed the distinguished guests at Lin Hu Xuan. Vice President Li first warmly welcomed the guests, and then they discussed the possibility of further developing existing projects between the two schools. Under the current circumstances, both schools should consider establishing multilayer exchange programs, such as Master’s and Ph.D. degree programs, thus benefiting students on both sides.
The French delegation mentioned that Chinese students had deep interest in their own professional field, but that they lacked the experience of interdisciplinary learning. Vice President Pacard hoped to see more outstanding Chinese students who could engage in interdisciplinary studies rather than studying a single subject. Three years ago, PKU and École Polytechnique signed an exchange program protocol. This year PKU expected that there would be more students joining the existing exchange project between Peking University and École Polytechnique. Furthermore, as the existing exchange program was only for students of mathematical sciences, new exchange programs starting next spring will be open to students for the purpose of enhancing students’ understanding of each country and also to extend further communication and cooperation.
Written by Sienna Luk
Edited by Li Ruoxue
