On March 31, a delegation led by Evgeniy Sagaydak, Vice Rector of Novosibirsk State University, visited Henan University (HENU). Bai Ying, Vice President of HENU, met with the delegation at the Middle Building of Youlan Academy on the Longzihu Campus in Zhengzhou. Heads of relevant units attended the meeting, including the International Affairs Office, the School of International Education, the Eurasia International School, and the School of Pharmacy.

Bai Ying extended a warm welcome to Evgeniy Sagaydak and his delegation. She provided a detailed overview of HENU’s history, its development strategy, and its long-standing tradition of open education. She noted that in recent years, HENU has established a new development orientation as a research-oriented, comprehensive, and internationalized world-class university. HENU has focused its efforts on emerging engineering education, new medical sciences, and emerging interdisciplinary fields. These areas align closely with the strengths of Novosibirsk State University and offer strong complementarity. Bai Ying expressed her hope that this meeting would pave the way for deepening practical cooperation between the two universities and opening a new chapter of mutually beneficial inter-institutional collaboration. She proposed three recommendations for future cooperation. First, the two universities could focus on key areas such as medicine and emerging engineering education, where both sides have strong expertise. By exploring joint educational programs in these fields, the two universities could share resources and complement each other’s strengths. Second, the two universities could expand talent cultivation pathways by introducing a “2+2” joint training model for international students. This would create a platform for student exchanges and promote the mutual growth of young talents. Third, the two universities could deepen research collaboration and innovation by strengthening academic exchanges between faculty and students, co-organizing academic conferences, and working together on research projects. Such efforts would enhance the academic and research capabilities of both universities.

Evgeniy Sagaydak expressed his appreciation to HENU for its hospitality and gave a comprehensive overview of Novosibirsk State University, covering its educational characteristics, disciplinary strengths, and international development philosophy. He stated that Novosibirsk State University places a high priority on its internationalization strategy and has strong expertise in fields such as science, engineering, and medicine. These strengths are highly compatible with HENU’s development philosophy. He expressed his hope to leverage medical collaboration as a starting point and extend cooperation to other fields, including the natural sciences and the humanities. He also emphasized the importance of faculty and student exchanges and joint research projects to promote substantive and effective cooperation between the two universities.

During the exchange session, the two sides held in-depth discussions on specific issues such as cooperative programs, talent cultivation, faculty and student exchanges, and research collaboration. They reached broad consensus and identified a regular working mechanism and subsequent steps for cooperation. This meeting has set a clear path and built consensus for comprehensive and deeper cooperation between the two universities in the next phase.

Founded in 1959, Novosibirsk State University is located in Novosibirsk, the third largest city in Russia. It is a world renowned public research-oriented university and is often referred to as the “Silicon Valley of Russia”. The university has strong academic strengths in mathematics, computer science, physics, and medicine. It is home to 73 academicians of the Russian Academy of Sciences and consistently ranks among the top three universities in Russia in international rankings such as ARWU and QS.