Southwest Jiaotong University launched the second International Education Week to develop intellectuals with patriotism, international vision and global competence. 84 professors, experts, and scholars from world-class colleges and universities all over the world were invited to deliver lectures to students of the University.

The event was organized by the Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges. 18 schools played an active role and offered 41 courses, covering reports of academic frontiers, specialized courses, general education courses for arts and humanities, foreign languages, etc. The lecturers were sourced from many world-renowned universities such as University of Leeds, University of Liverpool, Queen Mary University of London, Pennsylvania State University, the University of Sydney, École Centrale de Lyon, Nanyang Technological University, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and City University of Hong Kong. More than 3100 students participated in the event and obtained their respective certificates and credits.

Presented below are some selected moments in the International Education Week!

1. School of Civil Engineering

The School offered 9 courses, ranking 1st in the University. The lecturers invited were professors and experts from the University of Sydney, University of Bath, City University of London, the University of Manchester, University of Glasgow, École Centrale de Nantes, and Defense Science and Technology Agency of Singapore.

During the Week, students learned about the latest research development in civil engineering, and were motivated to formulate engineering problems and come up with multidisciplinary resolution methods. Through lectures given in English, they improved their English proficiency levels, understood the significance of internationalization, and expanded their minds in researching and studying.

2. School of Mechanical Engineering

The School had the largest number of participants. Over 700 students of the School took the 3 courses offered by professors from Northumbria University, University of Florence, University of Wollongong, and The University of Southern Mississippi.  

Students acquired more frontier knowledge of mechanical engineering and product design, became increasingly aware of the importance of English, and found inspiration in learning and research.

3. School of Electrical Engineering

The School offered four international courses in all, and invited experts from the University of Arkansas in the United States, University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, and University of Liverpool to give presentations on cutting-edge knowledge in the fields of power electronics, rail transit electrification and low-carbon technology and development, which has effectively improved students' learning awareness and broadened their horizons in international academics.

“I have a much broader vision after these lectures and realized there was a long way to go at the Programme of Electrical Engineering and Automation. I must work hard and would never give up, so that I can achieve my goals. Armed with knowledge, I can make my own contributions to China,” said a student.

4. School of Information Science and Technology

In the international course offered by the School, the university and industry experts from different countries, such as the United States, Italy, Greece and Sweden, delivered speeches on the latest research results and challenges to undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Intel Chief Engineer HP Yeoh gave an online lecture via simultaneous live streaming on the platform of Intel

5. School of Economics and Management

The School provided an international course and invited the scholars from York University in Canada to give the lecture entitled “Career Planning and Non-authority Influence”.

6. School of Foreign Languages

At the School, three online international courses were delivered by the professors from Purdue University (Fort Wayne), Columbia University and Washington University in St. Louis in the United States. The courses covered both knowledge and interest, social reality and historical origin, hot topic and professional discussion. Students felt greatly rewarded after the courses.

“Thanks to SWJTU for giving all students such a platform. It enables us to discover more disparities around the world, and sheds a light on our future study and life,” said a student.

7. School of Transportation and Logistics

Two courses of “Traffic Flow Theory” and “Lecture Series on Traffic Engineering” were offered at the School of Transportation and Logistics by professors from the University of California, Irvine, University of Alabama, University of Sydney and University of Queensland.

The professors highly commended the students on their academic foundation in transportation, hoping that the event will continue to be held in the coming years. They also wished that more international experts and scholars will participate in it to further expand the development of the students’ international perspectives.

8. School of Materials Science and Engineering

The School offered an international course and invited professors from Georgia Institute of Technology and Fayetteville State University to introduce the basic theory, principle and development of advanced materials research methods and the cutting-edge progress in this field with practical analysis of many cases. During the interactive discussion, they answered the questions from students who said that the course opened a door for their career development in the field of materials and greatly broadened their research horizons.

9. Faculty of Geosciences and Environmental Engineering

The Faculty invited six foreign experts from Germany, Russia, Canada, Pakistan and Iran to deliver an international course related to surveying and mapping, geology, environment, fire protection and safety technology and so on.

Students were active at the 6-day learning class involving immersive English communication, group discussions, brainstorming, and professional seminars. The International Education Week made professional knowledge more attractive and international teaching more popular, rendering the memory unforgettable and valuable in the students’ academic career.

10. School of Architecture

The School offered an international course on urban traffic architecture, land use, traffic landscape and inclusive design, and invited foreign teachers from renowned universities in the United States, Spain, Japan and other countries to give a series of lectures. They elaborated on the relations between city and transportation in the four sections of architecture, planning, landscape and art, providing students with  completely new perspectives.

11.  School of Design

The School invited four foreign experts from Queen Mary University of London to deliver a course entitled “Intelligent Media Design and Creative Coding” which covers the description of typical cases, introduction of the basic functions of the software, combination of software features in the design, and its application. Under the supervision of the experts, students understood the theories and learned to practice by themselves. This course, to a large extent, stimulated students’ interests in intelligent media design and creative coding which can be applied to the follow-up study, practical research and experimental design.

12. School of Physical Science and Technology

The two international courses of “Discovering the Universe” and “Introduction to MHD Turbulence and Cosmological Ray Theory” were taught by the scholars from the Butler University, Institute for Advanced Study and National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

The foreign professors praised the learning initiative of our students and believed that our students were skilled at communicating in English and enthusiastic for scientific research. The students acquired the knowledge about the cutting-edge science and technology, had their horizons broadened, and learned to make decision on their research orientations.

13. School of Humanities

The two international courses of “A Series of Lectures on Chinese Language and Literature Facing the World” and “Topics in the History of Chinese Language” were delivered by the professors from the University of Minnesota System, Kyushu University, and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

“I am very grateful to the teachers for their hard work and instruction. The interesting stories help arouse our curiosity for this course. I thank the University and the School for the International Education Week. It provides us with such a good opportunity to acquire the knowledge. I am looking forward to more similar learning activities.”, said a student.

14. School of Public Administration

The school offered one international course and invited the professors from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the University of lowa, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the University of Massachusetts-Boston to deliver the series of lectures about the Policy and Politics from a Comparative Perspective.

15. School of Life Science and Engineering

At the international course offered by the school, professors from the Georgia State Universities introduced the frontier theories in biotechnology and their application, including the development and application of the cutting-edge technology theories such as gene editing (CRISPR-Cas9), gene therapy, bioethics, COVID-19 and the vaccines, synthetic biology, International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition. The students were happy with their vision broadened and confidence enhanced through course.

“The International Education Week provides a good learning opportunity for me to receive distance education from other countries, acquire the knowledge about the cutting-edge biotechnology, adapt to classes given in English, and develop the ability to read English literature.”, said a student.

16. School of Mathematics

The School provided two international courses, “Introduction to AI” and “Mathematical Methods of Classical Mechanics”, and invited teachers from Ulster University and foreign teachers in our university to give instruction. The students had benefited a lot and expressed a deeper understanding and interest in the hot topics and future development of AI, as well as mechanics and mathematical physics.

"Mr. Liu's course has lifted the veil of AI for me. His lesson has made a lot of AI concepts and knowledge known to me. It turns an unreachable advanced science into something within reach. I have gained a lot from only five days of learning", said a student.

17. School of Sports

The School offered one international course, in which professors from the Institute of European Sport Development and Leisure Studies of the German Sport University Cologne were invited to deliver online lectures and give a comprehensive introduction to the German sport system, the European model of sport, sports and society, Olympic sports, sports diplomacy etc., providing an interactive platform for sports teachers and students to broaden their international vision.

18. Institute of Smart City and Intelligent Transportation

The Institute has offered five international courses, including 2 university-level courses and 3 institute-level courses. Lecturers of the courses include professors/scholars from Lund University, Aalborg University, The University of Sydney, Griffith University, The University of Queensland, University of Liverpool, University of Leeds, Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University, Wuhan University, Siemens and other universities and enterprises. 321 undergraduate students of Class 2025 all participated, and each student took at least one course. The Institute will continue to promote its development in accordance with its academic direction of urbanization, intelligence and internationalization, and striving to shape itself into an international institute (campus).

19. Office of International Cooperation and Exchanges

The Office has provided three foreign language courses for studying abroad, aiming to prepare students in advance by improving their foreign language proficiency levels. The course introduced the relevant requirements of TOEFL, IELTS and French proficiency test, and focused on the higher education system and relevant suggestions for studying abroad in popular countries in North America and Europe.

The university will continue to integrate "global competence" into the whole process of talent training and host a series of high-level and professional events to further improve the learning effect and efficacy.