China

UiO's long-standing academic relations with Chinese higher education institutions have resulted in a broad portfolio of research agendas with Chinese partners and on Chinese topics, involving all UiO's eight faculties and most of UiO's units.

Water sampling on the YuQiao reservoir, as part of the SinoTropia project. Photo: UiO Professor Rolf David Vogt.

Research collaboration

China and Norway have common interests in topics like climate, environment, energy, health, and digitalization, which are topics reflected in agreements entered on a national level between our two countries. China and Norway have world-leading research environments within a broad area of topics and possess complementary expertise which we could benefit more from by joining forces. A close cooperation between UiO and Chinese partner institutions is important to further strengthen world-leading research groups, and help develop knowledge platforms needed to address the many global challenges we are facing today. UiO’s longstanding cooperation with China has resulted in a broad portfolio on subjects ranging from sinology to photovoltaics, law, gender studies, cancer research, and greenhouse gas emissions.

Examples of ongoing collaboration

  • A joint center between UiO and Zhejiang University, The Sino-Norwegian Centre for Research on Society and Environment (SINORSE) was formally opened in 2019 in Hangzhou. The center is committed to building an innovative team on cutting-edge research into social and environmental sciences and enhancing cooperation in scientific research. This will facilitate academic exchanges between the two universities, promote joint doctoral programs, and elevate the globalization of talent cultivation.
  • Research environments already involved in research collaboration may also benefit from funding from the Norwegian Research Council (NRC)  for integrating research and education through a programme called International Partnerships for Excellent Education and Research (INTPART).  One of UiO’s Centres of Excellence, the Center for Cancer Cell Reprogramming, collaborates with Tsinghua University and Yunnan University amongst others in a project called "ChiNoCell". This particular project aims to use the information gained about the “Achilles heel” of cancer and tumour-host interactions to achieve cancer cell reprogramming, i.e., to transfer cancer cells into dying or non-malignant cells.
  • Another INTPART-funded project seeks to address the challenges with antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as this is emerging as a major global problem to health care. The project "Revising Antimicrobial Resistance" includes the Chinese partner institutions Zhejiang University and Nanshan CCDC Shenzen University.
  • Yet another example is the ongoing collaboration between the UiO and Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) when it comes to interdisciplinary environmental research as well as cooperation with Chinese partners within research and education for example on environmental issues and renewable energy.

Cooperation in education and student exchange

  • UiO's extensive cooperation in research has created a basis for several bilateral student exchange agreement with partners in China (see full list below).
  • The Faculty of Humanities offers research-based studies Chinese Culture & Society at Bachelor, Master and PhD-levels. As an integrated part of these programs, UiO-students spend one or two semesters in China or Taiwan. These students make up the largest group of outbound mobility to China
  • The Department of Cultural Studies and Oriental Languages (IKOS) has a longstanding relationship with Peking University on education in Chinese language and culture. Peking University is the number one destination for UiO students in China.   
  • UiO's Department of Cultural Studies and Oriental Languages (IKOS) and  Zhejiang University (ZJU) have been collaborating for years on issues related to the environment and climate. At ZJU, master students in Chinese Culture & Society attend research-based courses in anthropology, media studies and political science related to environment and climate and research methodology. Fieldwork training is an integrated part of the programme.

Chinese partners

UiO has collaborated for more thanthirty years with China's  leading research and higher education institutions, including jointly co-founding the Nordic Centre in Shanghai with Fudan University and group of Nordic partners; and the China Programme at the Faculty of Law with a network of Chinese partners. In recent years UiO has developed strong research collaboration with Tshinghua University particularly within solar energy and cancer research, with Zhejiang University within environmental humanities and with Chinese Academy of Sciences within environmental biology. 

Today UiO cooperates with many of China's leading universities and research institutions, including:

  • Peking University
  • Tsinghua University
  • Fudan University
  • Zhejiang University
  • Nanjing University
  • China Agricultural University
  • Wuhan University
  • Sun Yat-Sen University
  • The Chinese Academy of Science (CAS)
  • The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS)