The establishment of the University of Aberdeen’s first international campus will be a proud and significant moment in our long history.
As an ambitious research-driven University with an international outlook, this as a hugely exciting initiative, and one which is a testament to our ambitions to position ourselves as a global institution which is at the forefront of energy-related research and teaching.
The campus will be a mutually beneficial collaboration that will allow us to export our world-class educational offering to a new market in East Asia, providing education and training in offshore subjects relevant to the South Korean industry, and meeting the needs of the country’s economy.
It will also provide the University with access to cutting-edge research facilities unlike any available to us here in Scotland.
This research potential is by far the most exciting aspect of this project, and will open up opportunities for long-term collaborations that will build connections between researchers in Scotland, South Korea, and other parts of the world.
It will also provide our students with opportunities to enhance their international experience, with future opportunities for student exchange that meet the University’s ambition of instilling our students with a sense of active global citizenship.
This combination of factors represents an unparalleled opportunity for the University of Aberdeen, and one which comes as a result of detailed negotiation with our South Korean partners, who identified the University as key to their plans of establishing a leading teaching and research facility in the Gwanyang Free Economic Zone, based in the south of the country.
A delegation of visitors from South Korea visited Aberdeen this week to see for themselves the work undertaken here, and we were delighted to host them as they toured our ancient King’s College campus and learned more about the University.
Our rich abundance of academic talent is hugely attractive to anyone with an interest in oil and gas research and teaching, and the expertise that exists here is helped in no small part by the strong links to industry we have forged as an institution at the heart of Europe’s energy Capital.
These partnerships have served us well, and it is our hope that the new campus will open up potential opportunities that not only benefit the University and its students, but industry based here in the city of Aberdeen as well.
