Officials from two universities recently visited CityU with an eye to increased collaboration.

An 11-member delegation from Australia's Monash University, led by Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic and Planning), Professor Alan Lindsay, received a warm welcome from CityU senior university management staff on 17 January. The reception committee included Professor Edmond Ko, Vice-President (Education), Professor Y S Wong, Vice-President (Institutional Advancement), Mr James Ng, Vice-President (Business and Finance), and Mrs Diana Ying, Associate Vice-President (Institutional Advancement).

Monash officials visited the campus last November and displayed some enthusiasm for offering top-up award degree programmes to College students who had completed two-year associate degree programmes. During their five-day visit this time, the Monash delegation met faculty members from individual departments and toured the Centre of Super-Diamond and Advanced Films and the Signal Processing Laboratory.

On 28 January, Peking University President Professor Xu Zhihong, an Honorary Doctor of Science recipient at CityU? 16th Congregation, was given a tour of CityU? biotechnology facilities. Professor Xu, a renowned botanist and Director of the Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology, was received by President H K Chang, Professor Y S Wong , Vice-President (Institutional Advancement), Professor P S Chung, Vice-President (Research), Professor W F Fong, Professor Nora Tam, and Dr Michael Yang.

Professor Xu toured the biology and chemistry laboratories, the greenhouse, the Centre for Coastal Pollution and Conservation, the Applied Research Centre for Genomic Technologies, and the School of Creative Media. He said Peking University plans to set up an environmental science department, with research focused on environmental biology, biotechnology and marine conservation.