On the afternoon of October 23, Vice President Stephen Flint, Richard Cotton, Director of the Office of International Affairs, and other delegates from the University of Manchester delegation visited Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. Chancellor Fan Xianqun, Vice Chancellor Zheng Junke, and representatives from relevant departments warmly welcomed the guests.

At the meeting, Chancellor Fan Xianqun extended a warm welcome to the visitors on behalf of SJTUSM. He emphasized that the University of Manchester is one of the world’s top universities, with outstanding achievements in fields such as science, engineering, humanities and social sciences, and medical research. The university has made continuous and significant contributions to knowledge innovation. Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine has a 128-year history of medical education and has achieved remarkable success in talent development, scientific research, and healthcare. Chancellor Fan highlighted the long-standing and close cooperation between the University of Manchester and SJTUSM, particularly in medical education and research. He expressed hope that this meeting would yield substantive results and looked forward to further deepening cooperation and exchanges between the two institutions to

achieve even greater successes.

Stephen Flint thanked SJTUSM for the warm reception and expressed that the two universities have had long-standing and stable cooperation. He viewed this visit as a great opportunity to expand and deepen the partnership. He noted that the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health at the University of Manchester is one of the university’s three main faculties. Through this faculty, Manchester will continue to advance medical exchanges and personnel exchanges with SJTUSM, further promoting in-depth collaboration in areas such as clinical medical education.

Xu Lin, Director of the International Office at SJTUSM, reviewed the research achievements and faculty and student exchanges between the two universities in the medical field over the past decade.

Subsequently, SJTUSM and UoM engaged in in-depth discussions on collaboration on clinical medicine, research, graduate programs, and the CSC program, among other topics. Since 2018, SJTUSM has jointly organized academic seminars with the University of Manchester’s Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, focusing on key disciplines such as oncology, immunology, and brain science. The two institutions have also carried out multiple collaborative projects in education, teaching, and student exchanges. This visit marks a return of the University of Manchester’s senior leadership to SJTUSM, following the visit of President Dame Nancy Rothwell last year.

Founded in 1824, the University of Manchester is a world-class comprehensive university and a member of the Russell Group. It has made significant achievements in the humanities, engineering, biology, and medicine. Scientific research and innovation are core principles of the university, which is the birthplace of many landmark discoveries and inventions of the 20th century. The university has produced 25 Nobel laureates since its establishment. In the 2025 QS World University Rankings, it is ranked 34th.