On March 13, 2024, Professor Malcolm Butler, Vice- President of the University of Sheffield (UK), led a delegation to Tongji University for a visit aimed at strengthening academic ties and exploring new areas of collaboration. The delegation was warmly welcomed by Professor Lou Yongqi, Vice President of Tongji University, and Professor Wang Hongwei, Vice Dean of the School of Economics and Management.

As a key strategic partner of Tongji University in the UK, Sheffield enjoyed a longstanding relationship with the School of Economics and Management, facilitating exchanges in faculty research across various disciplines. During the visit, the two sides engaged conducted in-depth discussions on high-level joint training of doctoral students, especially in the University of Sheffield’s advantageous disciplines, such as organizational behavior, international business, and operations research. The discussion marks the opening of deeper scientific research collaborations between the two institutions.

Prior to the official meeting, Tongji University had invited Professor YIN Shuxing from the School of Management of the University of Sheffield to a discussion with three faculty members from Tongji, Prof. WANG Hongwei, Prof. WEI Feng, and Prof. GONG Tianyu. Professor YIN highly appreciated the high-level research of Tongji SEM in related disciplines, and hoped that this meeting could promote substantive cooperation such as in-depth joint research of teachers and joint training of doctoral degrees in the future.

The collaboration between the University of Sheffield and Tongji University dates back to 2012 and was renewed in 2021 through the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the framework agreement for strategic inter-university cooperation. This renewal underscores the commitment of both institutions to further strengthen their ties and expand their collaborative efforts in the coming years. The University of Sheffield is one of the most influential research universities in the UK, and is also a world-renowned teaching and research center. In the 2024 TIMES UK University Rankings, the University of Sheffield is ranked 13th.