Sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (MOST) and Ministry of Research Science and Technology of New Zealand, China–New Zealand Scientist Exchange Program was launched in Beijing on Oct. 26th, 2009.
The program was signed by Vice Minister Cao Jianlin and Dr Helen Anderson on the 2nd China-New Zealand Joint Science and Technology Commission in February, 2009, which aims to enhance the mutual understanding and friendship between the scientists of the two countries, which will lay a solid foundation for their future collaboration. China and New Zealand will each accept up to five researchers each year for about four-week research collaborations under the Programme.
Dr. Zhao Xinli, the Deputy Director General of China Science and Technology Exchange Center (CSTEC), Dr. Suzanne Bertrand, the Director of International Linkages from Ministry of Research Science and Technology (MORST) of New Zealand, Mr. Shannon Scott, the Deputy Director of International Linkages of MORST and Ms. Guergana Guermanoff, the Education Counsellor of New Zealand Embassy in China addressed the opening ceremony. Delegates from the Department of International Cooperation of MOST, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) attended the kick-off ceremony.
On the ceremony, Chinese officials gave a brief introduction of national S&T system, research and innovation policies as well as international S&T cooperation programs. It’s hoped that bilateral governments would explore the working mechanism to push forward long term research cooperation between the two countries’ scientists.
The five New Zealand scientists are from the University of Auckland, New Zealand Forest Research Institute Limited and AgResearch Limited, majoring in the fields of biomedicine, environmental science, nanotechnology and micro-electromechanical systems. They would develop exchanges in over ten host institutes including Peking University, Zhejiang University, Nanjing University, China Pharmaceutical University and Chinese Academy of Environmental Sciences.
