Chinese delegation on official visit to the University of Bergen

Vice President of Shandong University, Zi-Jiang Chen, led the delegation who visited Bergen as part of the collaboration within the ChiNor Brain Science Research Centre. The centre was established during a visit from the University of Bergen to Shandong University in May 2015.

The delegation also consisted of Fengshang Wang, Qili Liu, Hongying Jia, Xingang Li, Ming Lyu and Donghai Wang, who are in leading positions in the academic and medical institutions involved in the collaboration with UiB. The delegation was met by Acting University Director, Tore Tungodden, the Dean of Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Nina Langeland, as well as involved staff at faculty and department level.

A Memorandum of Understanding between the University of Bergen and the Shandong University was signed and will further expand the interactions between the two institutions.

The collaboration between the institutions started in 2005 as joint research collaboration between Professor Rolf Bjerkvig at the Department of Biomedicine and then PhD candidate Jian Wang also including Jian Wang’s former research leader Xingang Li at Qilu Hospital of Shandong University. Over the next years several joint projects and research exchanges have taken place between the institutions.

Ongoing funding from the Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Education (SIU) and their UTFORSK program aims to extend the activities to also include exchange of students and staff, academic competence building as well as to further expand their long lasting research activities. Researcher Jian Wang has a combined position at the Department of Biomedicine and Qilu Hospital of Shandong University to coordinate the activities. After the project started, the ChiNor Brain Science Research Centre includes newly prepared fully equipped laboratory facilities, 24 active students, offering laboratory seminars, scientific seminars and an exchange program.