In the period from May 14 to 16, 2019, within the framework of the Erasmus + project entitled “WELCOME: Towards Incoming international University Communities” the International Conference “The Role of Internationalization Strategies in Building a World-Class University” was held at Beihang University (China, Beijing).

The conference was focused on the strategies of internationalization of higher education institutions and its impact on the creation of a world-class university and consisted of keynote presentations, plenary and parallel sessions on topics such as the internationalization of world-class universities, the creation and implementation of international strategies, opportunities and challenges for future world universities.

  The plenary sessions were opened with an keynote speech by the Vice President for International and Academic Affairs of the University of Beihang, Professor HUANG Haijun, and the Director of the UNESCO Chair of Higher Education Management, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya Professor Vicenc Fernandez.

-  «Internationality of Higher Education: Common Challenges? VariedConditions? Varied Solutions? » (Prof. Ulrich Teichler, The International Centre for Higher Education Research, University of Kassel);

-  «Global Ambitions: Internationalization and China’s Rise as Knowledge Hub» (Prof. Anthony Welch, Professor at School of Education and Social Work, the University of Sydney, Australia)

-  «Beihang and Global Engagement» (LU Ying, Deputy Director, International Division, Beihang University);

-  «Internationalization and Enhancing the International Competitiveness of Japan’s University» (Prof. Futao Huang, Professor at the Research Institute for Higher Education, Hiroshima University, Japan);

-  «Best Practices on Internationalization in Higher Education Institutions in Portugal» (Dr. Rui Mendes, Director of International Affairs, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Portugal);

-  «Internationalization in Kazakhstan: Taking Advantage of Geopolitics» (Prof. Andrew Wachtel, Rector, Narxoz University, Kazakhstan)

-  «Educating for Global Competitiveness: Lessons from Canada» (Dr. Marilyn Lambert-Drache, York University, Canada) etc.

Representatives of the Erasmus + WELCOME project consortium from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (Spain), Tallinn Technical University (Estonia), Lisbon University (Portugal), The University  of Rovira and Virhiliy (Spain), the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University (Kazakhstan), University of Narxoz (Kazakhstan), Kazakh University of Economics, Finance and International Trade (Kazakhstan), Tongji University (China).

Along with the conference, on May 14, a working meeting of the WELCOME project and inter-project coaching meeting of the working groups of the WELCOME project and TKCOM project took place. At this meeting, representatives of universities presented their projects, exchanged experiences, and shared results, difficulties and plans for projects.

In addition, on May 16, as part of the Conference program, a “Beihang Partner Days” partner day was held in the form of an educational exhibition, where all conference participants had the opportunity to spread information about universities to students from China, to hold information and networking meetings.

We remind you that the WELCOME project has been implemented in the Karaganda Medical University since October 2016. The main objective of the project is to strengthen the international direction and strengthen internationalization in higher education institutions of Kazakhstan and China. More information is available on the official website of the project http://www.welcomeproject.net  as well as http://erasmus.qmu.edu.kz/?page_id=545