Ambitious plans for the University of Exeter to partner with Zhejiang University Institute of Technology (ZJUT) to create a world-class teaching technology institute in China have moved a step closer, winning the seal of approval from China's Ministry of Education.
The pioneering collaboration will eventually see up to 1,200 students taught across all year groups, and once operational, will be Exeter's first major transnational education institute, bringing a flagship presence to Hangzhou, the capital city of China's Zhejiang province.
The partnership builds on Exeter's ten-year collaboration with ZJUT and is part of the University's wider plans to deliver its world-renowned programmes in partnership with universities across the globe. The new Joint Education Institute will see students study and graduate in Hangzhou, China, with a dual degree of the same Russell Group standard as Exeter offers on its UK campuses.
The Institute will focus on cutting-edge interdisciplinary fields urgently needed in China, offering three Undergraduate and two Masters programmes, across the fields of engineering, data science and digital media. Commencing September 2026, all programmes will have a focus on sustainability and digital intelligence, providing the outlook and skills for today's global careers market.
Professor Lisa Roberts, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Exeter, said: "This partnership is a major leap in Exeter's ambition to deliver our world-class education globally. We're excited that our new Joint Education Institute will unite the excellence of our two universities, to prepare career-ready students with a global outlook to benefit industry and global society.
"It's an honour to build on our partnership with ZJUT, and through this partnership, we will offer students the same high-quality, triple gold-ranked education across Engineering, Computer Science, and Digital Media as students receive on our UK campuses."
The partnership between the two universities brings together Exeter's research prestige with world-leading technological expertise at ZJUT. Exeter is ranked 38th in the world in the Leiden world-university ranking for the quality of research publications, whilst ZJUT is a world-leader, including in chemical engineering; and it sits among the top Chinese universities in Environmental Science, Computer Science, and Information Engineering.
