Peking University administrators with Georgia Tech, Emory delegation
A recent trip to Peking University (PKU) by administrators from Georgia Tech and Emory included a formal signing ceremony for the joint Georgia Tech/Emory/PKU PhD program in biomedical engineering. Georgia Tech President Bud Peterson and Tech Engineering Dean Don Giddens made the trip along with Larry McIntire, chair of the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory and Cheng Zhu, BME associate chair of international programs.
The joint PhD program was first announced last February and began enrolling its first students last fall. Students apply to the program through either the Department of Biomedical Engineering at PKU or the Coulter Department at Georgia Tech and Emory. Primary classes and research take place on the student’s home campus, but students spend at least a year in classes and research on the secondary campus.
Highlights from the recent visit included meetings with officials from PKU Health Science Center and the Third Hospital of PKU to discuss possible future collaborations; student recruiting presentations; faculty-student roundtable discussions; President Peterson’s speech to PKU students; and a meeting with PKU Provost Jianhua Lin.
The Coulter Department has funded a five-year seed grant program to foster collaborative research in the partner institutions, including six projects already underway. Funding for six new collaborative projects for 2010 was announced during the visit.
Founded in 1898, Peking University enjoys an outstanding reputation within and outside of China, consisting of 31 colleges and 14 departments. The student body includes more than 4,000 international students from nearly 80 countries.
