The guests from Kings College London also included Tayyeb Shah, Associate Vice President for Global Affairs Development, Richard Trembath, Executive Dean of Life Science and Medicine, Ian Everall, Executive Director of the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, and Paola Dazaan, Vice President of International Affairs, and Tania Lima, director of the International Cooperation Office. Hou Shengtao, director of SUSTech’s Office of Global Engagement, Zhang Jian, director of the Preparatory Office of the Medical School, Zhou Yongming, director of the Social Science Center, as well as faculty representatives and members of the UNESCO Higher Education Innovation Center also attended the meeting for discussions.

Li Fengliang and Lu Chun welcomed Funmi Olonisakin and her entourage and briefed the guests on the current status of SUSTech, including the unique mechanisms, faculty strength and international cooperation programs. They said that King’s College London and SUSTech have established a solid cooperation foundation in the fields of neuroscience, medicine and health sciences, and that scholars from both have frequent contacts and academic exchanges. They hoped to use this visit as an opportunity to further consolidate and deepen the ties between the two universities, to enhance mutual understanding of each other and jointly open up broader areas for collaboration.

During the visit, neuroscientists from both universities conducted informal discussions to present their latest developments and relevant academic backgrounds of their respective research institutes, and discussed ways to establish scientific cooperation, academic exchanges and joint training of students in the field of neuroscience.

King’s College London (King’s or KCL) was founded in 1829 by King George IV. It is one of the world’s leading research institutes, just behind the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial College. It is the fourth oldest institution of higher education in England, has produced twelve Nobel laureates including Peter Higgs, Nobel Laureate in Physics, 16 Heads of Government or State, and 34 current British MPs. London Kings College has ranked up to No. 10 previously, and was ranked No. 21 in the 2017 world rankings.