Vice President of ISCTE-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa Visits GDUFS

On the morning of June 23, Professor Ricardo Paes Mamede, Vice President of ISCTE-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), visited Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS). Vice President Shen Minghao welcomed the guest. Both sides held in-depth discussions on topics such as joint degree programs, joint development of relevant programs, student exchanges, and joint education programs.

Highlight from the Meeting

Shen extended a warm welcome to the delegation. He recalled that the two universities’ leaders have met and communicated on multiple occasions this year, demonstrating their strong commitment and shared vision for deeper cooperation. He noted that GDUFS is fully advancing the development of five interdisciplinary subjects: global and area studies, global economic governance, foreign-related rule of law, international communication of Chinese culture, as well as language and artificial intelligence. In the U.S. News Best Global Universities Rankings, the university currently ranks 165th worldwide and 6th in China in Arts and Humanities, and its Economics and Business programs are ranked 289th globally, among the top in China. He stressed that ISCTE-IUL, a dynamic higher education institution in Portugal and across Europe, is well-aligned with GDUFS in areas including public policy and global and area studies. He hoped to take this visit as an opportunity to promote practical cooperation in multiple aspects such as actively exploring the feasibility of cooperative educational institutions and programs, advancing joint-degree and bachelor-master programs in Business and Management, deepening academic cooperation in the fields of global governance and public policy, expanding global and area studies on Europe and Portuguese-speaking areas, establishing a mechanism for long- and short-term student exchanges, and conducting joint education programs at master’s and doctoral levels.

Mamede thanked GDUFS for its warm reception. He provided an overview of ISCTE-IUL, proactively responded to the above cooperation proposals, and further offered several suggestions for practical cooperation. Meanwhile, he mentioned that the ISCTE interdisciplinary team for Eurasian Studies regularly hosts academic seminars on hot topics including Europe-Asia relations, global governance, and digital transformation, and sincerely invited scholars from GDUFS to participate. He also welcomed GDUFS students and faculty to apply for ISCTE-IUL’s summer programs open to international faculty and students, which feature diverse themes including tech entrepreneurship, European business management practices, branding and digital marketing, dynamics of Europe-Africa relations, as well as Portuguese and European history and culture. He stressed that the two universities should promote faculty academic exchanges and joint research, co-host specialized academic conferences, and draw on ISCTE-IUL’s existing experience of cooperation with Chinese higher education institutions to explore flexible and diverse collaborative degree models, such as a “3+1+1” combined Bachelor’s and Master’s program and joint doctoral training programs. Mamede hoped that the above proposals would soon be turned into concrete actions to drive deeper cooperation in areas such as public policy, global governance, and global and area studies.

Group Photo

Representatives from the Office of International Cooperation and Exchange, School of Business, School of Accounting, Faculty of European Languages and Cultures, School of International Governance Innovation, Guangdong Research Institute for International Studies, and Academy of International and Regional Studies attended the meeting.