On the afternoon of April 18, Deborah Terry, President of the University of Queensland, and her delegation visited SIAR, USTC. They were welcomed by USTC President and Academician Bao Xinhe. Attendees at the meeting included Xue Tian, Assistant to the President of USTC, Chu Jiaru, Special Assistant to the President and Executive Dean of SIAR, Jiang Lei, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Dean of the School of Nano Science and Technology, Zhang Jie, Member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, Qu Kun, Director of the Office of International Cooperation, and Zhou Shaohua, Executive Dean of the School of Biomedical Engineering. The meeting was chaired by Xue Tian.

President Bao warmly welcomed the UQ delegation, emphasizing the strong foundation of scientific and educational collaboration between USTC and UQ. He expressed hope for strengthening scientific research cooperation between the two institutions, as well as deepening collaboration in talent development, which would help nurture high-quality talents and foster the mutual growth of both universities.

President Terry expressed her gratitude to President Bao for the warm reception and stated that she looked forward to enhancing communication and fostering deeper cooperation for mutual benefit.

Following this, Qu Kun introduced the visitors to the general situation of USTC and SIAR, covering aspects such as discipline construction, talent training, and the cooperation agreements already in place between the two institutions.

Participants at the meeting engaged in in-depth discussions on joint postgraduate training, hosting bilateral academic conferences, faculty exchange programs, and other specific cooperative measures. Both sides reached a consensus on promoting further collaboration in deeper and broader fields.

During the meeting, UQ and USTC signed a MOU to formalize their partnership.

After the meeting, the delegation toured the exhibition hall of SIAR and laboratories related to biomedical engineering.

Following the visit to SIAR, Wu Qingwen, Deputy Secretary of the Suzhou Municipal Party Committee and Mayor of Suzhou, met with President Deborah Terry and President Bao Xinhe. Wu extended a warm welcome to the guests on behalf of the municipal government. He noted that USTC has made significant achievements in frontier science and advanced technology, while UQ is a world-renowned university. The focus of many of UQ's cutting-edge disciplines aligns closely with USTC's strategic direction in Suzhou. Wu expressed his sincere hope that USTC and UQ would leverage their strengths in academic disciplines and talent cultivation to collaborate more deeply in education, scientific research, and industrialization. Suzhou would fully support the collaboration between the two universities and continue to provide policy support and services, working together to achieve mutual development.

The University of Queensland (UQ), established in 1909, is a public comprehensive university located in Queensland, Australia. It is one of the six sandstone universities in Australia and is a member of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities, the Group of Eight, Universitas 21, the International Alliance of Research Universities, and the Global Alliance for Engineering Education.