A short film made by Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University students has won awards for Best Film, Best Student Film and Audience Choice at the Shanghai International Short Film Contest.

Recipe was written, directed and edited by Gleb Torubarov (pictured below, right) and co-produced by Jonathan Clementi-Smith of XJTLU’s School of Film and Television Arts and Liqun Mao of English language training centre New Channel, which provided funding for the film.

Using a parallel montage technique, the film is both a grim tale of a relationship gone awry and an instructional video on how to prepare a delicious steak dinner.

The Shanghai International Short Film Contest called for film makers from all creative backgrounds and levels of ability to form teams to collaborate on making a film, from script and pre-production through to shooting and post-production.

Films were shot and edited from early August to late November this year and were required to include at least one shot of food preparation.

“I got the idea about the couple’s relationship when I was living in Japan and the final story is very similar to the original,” explained Gleb, who studies MSc Media and Communication at XJTLU.

“Finding out that the film contest had a rule to include a shot of food preparation, I recalled this story and thought of a way to make a food preparation a part of it,” he said.

Shortlisted films were screened at a ceremony at The Place in Shanghai on Saturday 5 November, with a panel of academic and professional experts judging entries.

Contest director Richard Trombly said it was unusual in a competition with professional and student contestants for a student film to win the award over the work of professionals, but that judges were in agreement that Recipe should win the top award.

“The cleverness of the story, the creativeness to design the story around the competition theme, the rhythm of the music, the directing precision and the theme of western steak and Asian actors combined to make a strong and economical film,” he said.

“The confident and strong directing was clear. Gleb did not waste a frame. That is how a short film should be made.”

The team (pictured above) entered the competition as part of the Additional Learning Activity initiative at XJTLU, which requires postgraduate students to complete 200 hours of ALA learning per semester. They were supported in this process by lecturer Jonathan Clementi-Smith.

“My role was to create and monitor the space to allow them to do this through the ALA scheme. I see this as the first of many great films that the School of Film and Television Arts will be involved in. I’m really impressed by the film they managed to create and delighted that it’s been recognised with awards,” he said.

XJTLU undergraduate student Zhaoming Hu was assistant director and casting director, while masters student Weinan Guo recorded and mixed the sound, with assistance from Elshaday Mekonnen and Yan Ma, and acted as on-set interpreter. Daria Gruzdeva was production assistant.

The film stars actors Xiukun Zhu, from XJTLU, YuAng Shen, from Soochow University, and Xin Liu, as well voice over actress Marie Prevot, from XJ-Schema.

A programme discussing student-centred education and the reform of university management was held at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University.

The seventh session of the Education Leadership Excellence Programme, organised by the Institute of Leadership of Education Advanced Development (ILEAD) at XJTLU, attracted 35 senior managers from nine universities across China.

The programme aimed to support university leaders to deal with challenges in higher education and to rethink its value, based on XJTLU’s own exploration of new models of education.

Professor Youmin Xi, executive president of XJTLU, shared his opinions about the challenges of and opportunities for reshaping higher education in the light of globalisation, the knowledge economy and information technology revolution.

XJTLU’s vice president, Dr Minzhu Yang, spoke about XJTLU’s implementation of student-centred education and the practical experience that has been gained in the process.

Guoxin Yang (pictured below), head of the student affairs office at Henan University of Science and Technology, said: “XJTLU’s experience in implementing a student-centred educational approach has already gained a good reputation. Through this leadership excellence programme, we have a better understanding about this approach, which has very practical significance for us.”

XJTLU’s achievements in supporting the internationalisation of higher education in China attracted a number of domestic universities, such as Beijing Union University (BUN), to learn from its experience.

Fubin Yin, deputy secretary of the party committee at the Business College at BUN, said that his college was applying for accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International and that they have encountered some challenges in reforming their educational approach to meet international standards.

“Reform has had a big impact on the design of our current curriculum and quality assurance systems, for example, we needed to develop a new academic staff assessment system to meet AACSB’s requirements,” he explained.

He also emphasised the importance of and difficulties in changing academic staff members’ mindsets from the idea of managing students to serving them.

“I was impressed by XJTLU the moment I arrived at the campus,” he said. “Brochures for student recruitment and the University’s new website are refreshing.”

Staff from the nine universities that participated in the programme also completed an evaluation of the student-centred approach with the help of ILEAD and will receive feedback and suggestions on how to improve the systems within their own institutions.

Staff and students from the Department of Architecture at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University are celebrating winning a number of prizes at an architectural education competition for universities in China.

Submissions from the department won the ‘Outstanding Design Brief’ and ‘Outstanding Design Studio Coursework’ at the 2016 National Architectural Education Annual Symposium in Hefei, China.

Schools and departments of architecture around China were required to submit architectural design studio briefs and related resulting students’ work.

Design studio modules form the central core of architectural degree programmes. In a design studio module, students are asked to respond creatively and responsibly to questions posed by a design brief. Students’ projects are typically developed in a studio space in which they all work, and they are encouraged to discuss and think critically as a baseline for collaborative learning.

A teaching team of five tutors, including Ganna Andrianova, Aleksandra Raonic, Austin Williams, Lina Stergiou and Jose Angel Hidalgo Arellano, led by module coordinator Ganna, won in the ‘Outstanding Design Brief’ category for their brief ‘Creative Hub/Co-working Space in Suzhou’ in the Shantang Street area of Suzhou (brief pictured above).

The brief was given to Year Three students as part of the ARC204 design studio module on the BEng Architecture programme at XJTLU. They were asked to respond to the questions of the brief with original creative design solutions, developing architecture for co-working, while reacting to the specific real-life scenario in the context of the old city of Suzhou.

Lecturer Ganna developed the brief as a continuation of efforts made by the Department of Architecture to equip students with methods and tools that would enable them to act creatively in response to the question of urban regeneration, in the local Chinese context, as well as to locations that are not familiar to them.

The ARC204 brief asked students to consider the historical background of the well-known Shantang Street area in Suzhou and challenged them to come up with designs and ideas that would be appropriate to the questions of what co-working could mean today in China but also address the issues that development in the old city of Suzhou poses.

“The studio environment supports students in developing innovative design approaches and novel methods of inquiry and experimentation, helps them find their own individual creative voices and prepares them for their contribution to the discipline in the future,” Ganna said.

Two individual XJTLU students’ work won prizes in the ‘Outstanding Design Studio Coursework’ category for their designs that were developed within the ARC204 design studio module.

Fuwei Shao, supervised by Ganna, won for his ‘vibrant’ joint office environment design concept that was informed by research he did on biological processes and the growth of plants (pictured above). Shaokang Li’s winning design, which was supervised by Aleksandra Raonic, reflected on processes in the human body to create a space around which creativity is allowed to flow, in the same way as oxygen circulates around the body (pictured below).

“We’re very proud that the work that went into creating this brief and the resulting designs has been recognised at a competition that featured architecture schools from across China,” said Ganna.

“It shows that the work being carried out at XJTLU is among the best being produced by architecture schools in the country.”

A recent graduate from the Department of Urban Planning and Design at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University had his final year project on virtual reality for urban planning and design research published at an international conference.

Siyu Chen, who graduated in July this year, presented his final year project at the 12th International Symposium on Environment-Behavior Research (EBRA 2016), held in Chongqing in China. He was listed as first author and the full paper was included in the conference proceedings.

This is quite an achievement for an undergraduate student, explained Dr Bing Chen from the department, who supervised Siyu’s project.

“To have his final year project included at a conference while at undergraduate level demonstrates not only Siyu’s talent as a researcher, but also the strength of the research-led learning and teaching approach being adopted by the department.”

The project, ‘Design research for social interaction space in university campuses – A case study of XJTLU’, explored how social interaction spaces on the XJTLU campus could be better utilised and proposed design solutions based on a literature review on environmental psychology and case studies of best practice worldwide.

The project used virtual reality technology to verify its design proposals, seeking to clarify whether they would be able to trigger psychological change in students and staff and lead to more effective social interactions.

It also demonstrated how emerging technology in urban planning and design, such as virtual reality, building information modelling and other cloud based ICT tools for example, will impact city development, speculating that they will lead to users being able to better understand design and the built environment through interacting with it in an immersive virtual environment.

The project received excellent feedback from the conference review panel and participants, particularly Professor Hui Xie from Chongqing University School of Architecture and his students.

Siyu said: ‘Thank you to the Department of Urban Planning and Design at XJTLU for supporting me to attend the conference. I really enjoyed the final year project process, during which my supervisor encouraged me to fellow my heart instead of telling me what to do. I found it interesting to work on something in which I am really interested. I believe the project will have an impact on the development of my career.”

It’s not the first success Siyu has enjoyed while a student at XJTLU. In his third year on the BA Urban Planning and Design programme, his coursework, which he completed in collaboration with fellow student Ting Wang, was recognised as a ‘Commended Work’ in a competition organised by the China Urban Planning Education Network.

The coursework proposed the idea of creating urban farms on the abandoned railway tracks of Nanjing’s Pukou Railway Station, an unused early 20th century railway station to the north of the city.

Dr Chen added: “We’re enormously proud of Siyu’s achievements while at XJTLU and we wish him the best for his future.”

Now that he has graduated from XJTLU, Siyu plans to pursue a masters degree in Australia.

A seminar that brought together experts from China and the Netherlands to discuss leadership in education took place at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University.

Academics from the Hague University of Applied Sciences and XJTLU shared their opinions and research at the event, as well as discussed opportunities for student and staff exchange visits and training.

Participants from the two institutions shared a number of opinions on how to develop global talents, opportunities for reform in teaching and for increasing the internationalisation of universities.

Professor Youmin Xi, executive president of XJTLU, talked about XJTLU’s focus on supporting students to become global citizens with international competitiveness and cross cultural leadership skills, in order to cope with ongoing globalisation.

Dr Susana Menendez, vice president of The Hague University of Applied Sciences, said that they also focused on the concept of global citizens in its strategic development: “The reason we bring up this global citizen concept is to build consensuses amongst students from different backgrounds, to form sharable values and to improve mutual understandings and integration for them,” she explained.

She added that of the more than 26,000 students on campus at The Hague University of Applied Sciences, 40 percent were the children of first generation immigrants to the Netherlands, while 20 percent were overseas students from more than 130 countries and regions.

When talking about services to support the internationalisation of universities, she said: “Educating global citizens and increasing internationalisation at universities is not just about speaking English, but also enhancing understandings of different cultures and providing learning opportunities for those cultures.”

Professor David Goodman, head of the Department of China Studies at XJTLU, agreed with Dr Menendez, saying: “At XJTLU, we encourage international students to learn Chinese and to use Chinese language to talk with domestic students and locals, to better blend into the local community.”

Dr Xiaojun Zhang, deputy dean of XJTLU’s Institute of Leadership and Education Advanced Development, added that while the two institutions are at different stages of development, they do have shared ideas including a focus on cross-cultural awareness and appreciation.

Professor Xi said that XJTLU advocates the transition from the teaching of knowledge to taking a research-led approach in order to develop students’ abilities to acquire knowledge through problem solving.

Dr Zhang added: “ILEAD regularly organises meetings, seminars and workshops on research-led teaching for academic staff from universities around China, to share best practice and promote this type of teaching model across the nation.”

Rajash Rawal, dean of faculty management and organisation, said the Hague University of Applied Sciences was also changing its teacher-centred approach through increasing student engagement in curriculum design and implementation, and listening to students’ suggestions on course content and teaching.

“Current students are the first internet generation,” he said. “Many of our academics have been in teaching positions for more than 20 or 30 years. It is getting harder and harder for the old teaching style to meet students expectations.”

He added that they have started adjusting the teaching approach on five programmes, encouraging teachers to interview students to find out their satisfaction level towards the course and give suggestions on how to improve. Meanwhile, the university will help teachers modify course content and teaching approaches as well as provide training.

“We’re forming a positive cycle of constructive feedback and improvement,” he said.

A delegation of high school deans from Zhongshan city in China’s Guangdong province visited Xian Jiaotong-Liverpool University to find out more about the University’s autonomous admission policy and to meet current students from the province.

Autonomous admission is a form of direct admission to the University and has been available to students applying from Guangdong province since 2013.

Whereas in normal circumstances student are admitted to XJTLU on the strength of their Gaokao college entrance examination results alone, the direct admission approach allows students to submit an application that takes into consideration their Gaokao score (worth 60 percent of their overall admissions mark), the results of an evaluation carried out by XJTLU (worth 30 percent) and their year three high school marks (worth 10 percent).

Zhongshan city is one of the major cities in Guangdong from which XJTLU recruits students.

The delegation, which was led by the Guangdong Zhongshan Centre of Education, Admissions and Examinations, saw presentations from key staff at the University as well as met with current XJTLU students from Guangdong.

Second year economics and finance student Ziqi Ou, who graduated from Zhongshan Number One High School, gave a presentation to the delegation and spoke about her study experiences, life on campus and overseas exchange opportunities at XJTLU.

Talking about why she chose XJTLU two years ago, she said: “My wish to experience an international living and study environment can be tracked back to high school, but my family were worried about sending me abroad at such an early age as they were concerned about whether I could take care of myself and can keep up with my studies. They suggested that I consider a Sino-foreign cooperative university and after researching my options, I felt XJTLU suited me best.”

Yong Yao, dean of Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Secondary School in Zhongshan, talked about how they share information on Sino-foreign universities with their students during the Gaokao admissions period: “In April, we’ll invite Sino-foreign cooperative universities to our school to give presentations to our students and provide opportunities for students and parents to know more about this type of university and their recruitment policies.”

Qijian Xie, director of XJTLU’s Student Admissions and Career Development Office, emphasised the importance of organising recruitment events in Zhongshan and other major cities in Guangdong.

He said: “The general quality of students from Guangdong is very impressive and we do hope there will be more of them applying to XJTLU in the future.”

He added that he hoped to enhance communication between XJTLU and high school students in Guangdong.

After the meeting, the delegation visited the XJTLU campus and had more in-depth discussions with students from Guangdong.

A Chinese entrepreneur shared his opinions on the concept of global youth last week, telling students at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University that the younger generation in China should embrace change and face challenges in the world.

Jay Wei (pictured below), founder and chairman of the board of Gold Finance Group, delivered a speech on the kind of global youth China needs for its future, at an event held at XJTLU.

The event included questions from students and Zixi Li, a Year Two student studying BSc Financial Mathematics, asked him whether students should strive for success or be content with an easy life.

“It’s a matter of personal choice and I prefer to strive for a successful and splendid life,” Jay said. “However, I don’t mean an easy life is not a good life. As long as you display self-discipline and constantly improve your professional and social skills, you can become a valuable person in society even if you do not become a leader.”

Professor Youmin Xi, executive president of XJTLU, added: “No matter what type of life you choose, you should not give up pursuing money, time, and freedom to think.”

Professor Xi said that XJTLU aims to develop students into global citizens with international perspectives and competitive skills but that the concept of a global citizen has caused debate.

He said: “Global citizens have a close connection with the world - no matter where you are, you will be influenced by the world while your words and behaviour will, in turn, affect the world. If you want to contribute to human civilisation, you should have an awareness that is not simply about nations’ differences but also embraces international perspectives.”

Jay pointed out that speeches he has given at other universities in China were simply focused on the concept of ‘youth’ but that he specially put forward the concept ‘global youth’ at XJTLU.

Ming Hao, vice chairman of XJTLU’s branch of youth organisation AIESEC who attended the lecture, said: “As global youth, we should improve our understanding about our pluralistic world through experiencing other countries’ cultures and feeling the cultural differences. We can contribute to the world’s development based on this understanding.”

Zehui Zhang, a Year Four student at XJTLU who started her own business during the second year of her studies, said she was now having difficulty deciding whether to continue her business or go abroad for further study.

Jay recalled that he didn’t run his own business during university and that he was a lawyer for six years after graduating from Zhejiang University before starting his own business.

“The ability to learn is the most important skill no matter whether you are a student or have already started your career. As student, you still have plenty of time to experience entrepreneurship after graduation,” he said.

He also suggested that students concentrate on learning professional knowledge in university, gaining experience through volunteering and other social service activities, and improving their time-management and learning skills.

Qijian Xie, deputy director of the Student Management Centre at XJTLU, said the lecture was a good opportunity for students to learn more about society and how to better develop themselves.

Jay Wei graduated from Zhejiang University and established Gold Finance Group in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, in 2008. Gold Finance Group is a leading third-party financial services provider that develops industries such as finance, education, culture, and medical treatments to drive emerging urban construction.

XJTLU recently signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Gold Finance Group to jointly establish the XJTLU-GF School of Film and Television Arts and the XJTLU-GF Centre.

More than one billion people – around 16 percent of world’s population - regularly suffer the debilitating symptoms of migraines.

Those who have migraines generally experience severe, recurrent headaches on one side of the head, often accompanied by nausea and sensitivity to light and sound.

It is estimated that in America alone, employers lose more than USD 13 billion each year as a result of the 113 million work days lost due to migraines.

Yet despite the disease’s prevalence, research into it is comparatively insignificant, particularly here in China.

But Fan Bu (pictured above), a PhD student in the Centre for Neuroscience and the Department of Biological Sciences at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, is carrying out work that could have a significant impact on drugs developed to prevent and treat this debilitating disease.

In the past, scientists believed that migraines were linked to the changes of blood flow in the brain. It is now believed, however, that migraines are also caused by inherited abnormalities in genes that control the activities of certain brain cells.

Fan’s doctoral project has revealed a previously unknown mechanism, involving a protein within brain cells, which plays a key role in a migraine starting and developing.

When the protein that Fan has identified, named sarcoma family kinases, is activated in cells in the brain it can lead to the neurological responses that may trigger migraines.

“We knew that this protein existed and it was involved in other diseases,” says Fan Bu, “but we had not known its significant involvement in migraines until recently, when I studied the underlying mechanism of a key subunit of a cell membrane protein associated with migraine that had been identified in the early stages of my PhD project.”

It is thought that if the activity of this enzyme can be prohibited, migraines may be prevented from occurring at all. The discovery has potential importance in identifying targeted drugs for preventing migraines.

“There are currently no cures for migraines, the most effective thing is for people to prevent them from happening,” Fan says. “My work will contribute to the ongoing drug development that might ultimately discover cures, which is very exciting.”

The significance of Fan’s work is such that it has been recognised by distinguished scientists around the world.

This year, he received a competitive junior travel grant, awarded by the International Headache Society (IHS), to attend the fifth European Headache and Migraine Trust International Congress (EHMTIC) in Glasgow in the United Kingdom. He presented his work at the event (pictured above) and says he gained much “valuable” information from those present.

“Receiving comments on my work from researchers who are also investigating migraines as well as proposals for future collaboration is wonderful,” says Fan. “It has helped to put the Centre for Neuroscience, XJTLU and China on the world map for migraine research.”

Advancing migraine research in China

Fan’s work has been carried out under the supervision of Dr Minyan Wang (pictured below), associate professor and director of the Centre for Neuroscience at XJTLU, currently the only research centre in China dedicated to migraine research and drug development.

Dr Wang herself is an experienced researcher in the field, who began working on molecular mechanisms of migraine pain during her PhD, which she completed in 2004 at the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom.

Having come to XJTLU from the UK in 2011, she is one of the few women scientists working in the field of migraine research in China.

The Centre for Neuroscience, jointly founded by XJTLU and charitable foundation Wangwenli in 2013, has state-of-the-art facilities, as well as talented researchers, such as Fan, working on a number of projects across a variety of migraine research systems and migraine models.

It has already had significant research output in terms of the number and impact of its research publications, and has invited international collaboration with researchers in the USA, the UK and Italy, pharmaceutical companies, and colleagues in XJTLU’s Department of Chemistry.

“We’re not working in isolation,” says Dr Wang. “It’s important to communicate with other academics and centres around the world to push the research further for subsequent collaboration with industry to develop target drugs.”

While they don’t suffer from migraines themselves, Dr Wang and Fan recognise the potential impact theirs, and work like theirs, could have on countless people’s lives.

“Ultimately all the work we do in the Centre for Neuroscience is about making a difference to the people who suffer from this disease,” says Dr Wang.

“I’d very happy if our work leads to breakthroughs in better understanding migraines and the development of drugs to prevent this disease.”

Find out more about research at XJTLU.

An academic from the Department of Public Health at Xian Jiaotong-Liverpool University is leading efforts to empower health practitioners in Africa to understand, question and solve global public health issues.

Dr Don Prisno (pictured below) has delivered a series of training courses in countries across the African continent designed to develop critical thinkers and leaders in global health.

The training, which has been delivered at universities in Rwanda, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda, aims to deliver global public health education directly to practitioners in Africa. There are plans to expand the training to Sudan, Swaziland, Ghana, Burundi, Malawi and Congo.

“Global health education is becoming increasingly popular in Europe and the US, where there are many programmes available to practitioners, including those who travel from African nations to attend,” explained Don.

“But what’s missing is the provision of similar training in Africa itself, where African health practitioners can actually discuss issues within their own countries and contexts, rather than from an outside perspective.”

Through the training, which is attended by senior medical students, and practising medics, nurses and pharmacists, amongst others, Don hopes to help participants understand the theories and concepts behind global health and discuss the issues that affect the countries in Africa.

“So many of the discussions around public health issues are taking place in developed nations but are about developing countries,” he said.

“With this training I want to shift conversations about African nations to Africa itself and involve those who are on the ground dealing with the issues. It’s about empowering health practitioners in African countries to take an active role in the global discussions that affect them and their work.”

Dr Shamsudeen Ayomide Usman from Olabisi Onabanjo University in Nigeria took part in the training and said it was an opportunity to extend his knowledge beyond the classroom: “I realised I have to learn more beyond the confines of medical school and hospital. There are many determinants of health that influence disease prevalence and incidence, particularly those that can be analysed from a global health perspective and this is something that doctors and health providers should have a good grasp of.”

Course coordinator at the University of Rwanda, Dr Remy Ndayizeye said that global health is an emerging field in Africa and that it provides a picture of why disease burden in the region is a challenging issue: “Global health should be an integral part of the curriculum of medicine in Africa so that doctors will become not only good clinicians but will also know how to address other societal and global issues,” he said.

Don has recently been appointed as a visiting professor of the University of Rwanda and is a member of the board of the Maseno University Research Foundation in Kenya. Through these roles and his work building connections and networks through universities including Kenyatta University in Kenya, Lagos State University in Nigeria, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences in Tanzania, and Makerere University and Kampala International University in Uganda, Don hopes to steer the development of an Africa alliance for global health.

“There are currently no alliances in Africa, which can mean no unified voice from Africa on the world stage when it comes to global public health issues,” he said.

“By supporting the development of an alliance, I hope to further spread the concept of public health and contribute to strengthening the continent’s collective global voice on these issues.”

Don hopes the alliance will be established in 2017 and will host conferences and other opportunities for health practitioners to meet and discuss issues.

Don is an associate professor in XJTLU’s Department of Public Health, which offers a BSc Public Health, one of the most comprehensive undergraduate public health degrees in the world. Taught classes, applied coursework, field trips, projects and internships provide students with the practical and theoretical tools that are essential to fostering the health of local and international populations.

The programme, which is taught by experienced international staff, attracts increasing numbers of student applicants from African nations.

Two academic staff from Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University spoke at the recent TEDxYouth@Suzhou conference exploring the ideas of life on other planets and using computers to develop thinking.

Dr Thijs Kouwenhoven, from the Department of Mathematical Sciences, and Dr Hai-Ning Liang, from the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, took to the stage together with other 12 speakers at the event, which had a focus on the topic ‘explore’.

In his presentation, Dr Kouwenhoven (pictured below), who is an astrophysicist, talked about exploring new worlds in the Universe, saying: “Our Milky Way galaxy contains hundreds of billions of stars. Somewhere in the outskirts of the Milky Way is an ordinary star which we call ‘sun’. Our sun has eight planets, one of which is planet Earth, the only place in the Universe where as far as we know life exists. Most of the other stars also have planets.

“Over 3,500 of these so-called exoplanets have already been discovered and whether or not these planets are potentially suitable for extraterrestrial life is still an open question.”

He pointed out that a planet’s temperature was one of the crucial elements for life, saying that some planets form in hot regions, close to the star, while others will be permanently frozen, especially when distant from the star. Planets in the ‘habitable zone’ are those with temperatures that allow liquid water on the planet's surface and may, therefore, develop life over time.

Another crucial element for life is the composition of a planet's atmosphere: “On Earth, oxygen and carbon dioxide are essential nutrients for life. The greenhouse effect keeps the Earth at a comfortable temperature and the ozone layer protects us from dangerous radiation in space. Venus, Mars and our moon have environments that are inhospitable to life,” Dr Kouwenhoven added.

He continued to say that to develop and sustain life on a planet such as Earth, the climate needs to be stable over long periods of time but pointed out that Earth was gradually warming up due to the greenhouse effect and that the consequences were as yet unknown.

“Through studying the formation and evolution of planetary systems in the Universe, we can learn more about the long-term climate developments on habitable planets and also about the Earth itself,” he said. “To some degree, the Universe is a large mirror that allows us to see our own planet Earth and its future from a different perspective.”

In his presentation on exploring new technology, Dr Liang (pictured below) emphasised the importance of using computing technology to explore today’s society, saying: “Computing technology, more than anything else, is everywhere, it is almost like electricity early in the past century to power machines.

“Steve Jobs said before he passed away that everybody should learn how to programme a computer and communicate with technology because it teaches how to think.”

Dr Liang pointed out that the specific type of thinking Jobs referred to was computational thinking, which is closely related to problem-solving in that it encompasses a set of strategies for looking at a problem and trying to find solutions.

“In a way, computational thinking for dealing with technology is similar to critical thinking for essay writing,” said Dr Liang. “To be a computational thinker, you have to develop and practice a set of problem solving skills including decomposition, pattern recognition, logical reasoning, macro-level and micro-level analysis, and logical reasoning.”

He concluded by saying that if people understand computational thinking and know how to programme, as well as knowing a new way of thinking, they will also be able to create things.

“These things that you create can change the future in the same way that the founders of Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter did,” he said.

TEDxSuzhou is a local, independent and non-profit organisation that operates under the license of TED, an international campaign that encourages the exchange and spread of ideas among people, usually in the form of short talks. Based on the format of TED Talks, TEDx Talks are locally organised, independent events.

Established in 2011, TEDxSuzhou’s mission is to build an ‘innovative community’ and their activity includes five major events: the annual TEDxSuzhou conference in March; the annual TEDxSuzhou Women conference in May; the annual TEDxYouth@Suzhou conference in November; TEDxSuzhou Salons that focus on specific topics and TEDxSuzhou Live that broadcasts live TED conference several times a year.

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University’s Ultimate Frisbee student team has been crowned winners of the eastern division of the Chinese University Ultimate Association (CUUA) League.

They beat competition from teams at universities in Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, Ningbo and Hangzhou to win the two-day round-robin league, which was held at The University of Nottingham Ningbo China.

The CUUA League is one of the highest levels of Ultimate Frisbee for university students in China and has eastern, western, central, northern, southern, north-eastern and north-western divisions. The best teams from each division take part in the National CUUA League in March 2017 and fight for the title of National College Champion.

The first day of competition saw XJTLU “SIPO” Ultimate Frisbee Team beat Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, East China Normal University, Tongji University and Nanjing Sport Institute.

The last game of day one against Nanjing Sport Institute, 2015 national league champions, proved the most challenging with the XJTLU team coming from 2-5 down to take the universe point - Ultimate's version of sudden death – to win the game and remain unbeaten in the competition.

“Though they were faster, taller and stronger, we had better teamwork and cooperation,” said Zixuan Wang, new captain of the XJTLU team.

On day two, XJTLU beat Fudan University before facing The University of Nottingham Ningbo China, the 2015 eastern champions. XJTLU were 0-2 behind at the beginning of the match but got back into it to finally win 6-5.

The victory secured the eastern division championship for XJTLU and ensured they will take part in the national league in March 2017.

Zixuan said the team was keen to win the championship as the last time they had won any major titles was two years ago.

“Since then, we’ve lost four finals including two in CUUA leagues - UNNC beat us through the universal point in the eastern division final, while Nanjing Sport Institute beat us last year in the national final. But now we’ve fought back and we will keep going and fight to take the national title,” he said.

The universities that took part in the Eastern CUUA League include: Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, East China Normal University, Tongji University, XJTLU, UNNC, Nanjing Sport Institute, Fudan University, Nanjing United and Fosier United.

A Model United Nations conference for high school students in Pan-Yangtze River Delta was held at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University last week.

Organised by the XJTLU Model United Nations organising committee, made up of current XJTLU students, the conference attracted 212 representatives from 16 high schools across the region to discuss a series of issues related to world-wide concerns.

Model United Nations, which originated in the United States, is an academic simulation of the United Nations in which students learn about diplomacy, international relations and the United Nations. At MUN, students take on the roles of foreign diplomats and participate in a simulated session of an intergovernmental organisation.

Students playing the part of chairs of the League of Arab States Council, the European Union Council and the Arctic Council delivered keynote speeches focused on four issues, including the protection responsibilities of Middle Eastern governments and states, European anti-terrorism policies and refugee resettlement, Arctic environmental protection, development and cooperation, and the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons.

Leslie Sturino (pictured below), director of University Marketing and Communication and a professor of practice at International Business School Suzhou at XJTLU, said: “The MUN conference offers students the chance to adopt different viewpoints from around the world and to focus on potential solutions to many of the world’s most pressing problems.

“Through MUN, they learn that they have the power to make a positive difference in the world.”

Zixi Li, a Year Two student at XJTLU studying BSc Financial Mathematics and secretary general of XJTLU MUN, said: “It was the first time most of the participants had attended this activity and although they still had room to improve, they worked very hard to prepare speeches and statements.”

It’s the fifth year that Zixi has participated in MUN activity and she believes that participants gain independent thinking skills, broaden their horizons and develop their sense of responsibility to the world.

“For example, when discussing the issue of the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons the aim is not for these high school students to propose plans for solving this problem, instead MUN asks participants to explore the social problems and reasons behind the issue,” she added.

The XJTLU MUN organising committee started to prepare for the conference in the summer and the four issues that were discussed at the conference were selected from 50 proposed topics.

“We spent lots of time writing background material to the four issues, which helped the delegates better understand the topics and make better statements during the conference,” Zixi said.

Leslie added: “The global outlook of XJTLU’s students was certainly on full display as they organised this important international event and helped lead the discussions. I hope that some of the visiting high school delegates who are considering an international university will apply to XJTLU.”

Xinyu Wu, a Year One student from Soochow Academy of Jiangsu Province, represented the Arctic Council and said that it was her first time attending a MUN conference. She added that by attending she had gained a better understanding of how the United Nation works.

A documentary made by a group of students from Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University that captures the lives of people living in a rapidly-disappearing town in Suzhou is set to make its mark on the international film festival stage.

Edge Town, directed by Hao Jiang (pictured below), a Year Four BEng Architecture student, has been entered into the Cheap Cuts Documentary Film Festival and the BFI London International Film Festival, one of the best-known film festivals in the world.

The film tells the story of Che Fang, a town originally located close to Suzhou’s Industrial Park area, before it was divided into three different administrative regions during the rapid urban expansion of the area.

The town was first built in late Qing Dynasty (1840-1911) and is now fast becoming part of history as China’s urban areas change and develop, as Austin Williams, associate professor in XJTLU’s Department of Architecture and executive director of the documentary, explains: “The film explores the changing face of China and helps us understand a whole range of urban issues. It attempts to preserve some genuine local voices.”

Watch the trailer for Edge Town.

A year ago, as part of a design project for his degree programme, director Hao visited a street in Che Fang that was being pulled down. He recalls that the area was extremely run-down but that some old residents were still living there.

He says he was attracted to a particular scene of local people talking and enjoying the sunshine together in front of a dilapidated, half-demolished shop.

“I thought they looked like they were enjoying their lives, but it was a strange picture when you considered the background behind them,” he says.

He shared his observations and feelings with course tutor Austin who encouraged him to return and speak to the people of Che Fang to understand what they were really thinking.

Hao and his classmates spent several weeks returning to the town and interviewing residents, many of whom appear in the documentary, along with scenes from the rapidly disappearing town.

“We realised that we were capturing attitudes that were being lost,” Austin recalls.

Hao adds: “I wanted to preserve for people the memory of where they once lived. And I wanted to record people’s ideas about the future.”

Part of what attracted Hao to document the lives of the residents of Che Fang was his similar upbringing in Yancheng in Jiangsu province, in an area that was on the fringe of the rural and urban.

He recalls his childhood spent living in a bungalow with a small courtyard, adding that the environment that once made him feel inferior has become a memory that he cherishes.

“That ‘rural-urban fringe zone’ where I grew up turned into beautiful blocks of Western-style buildings several years ago, but now I have nowhere to find my memories,” he says.

It was the idea of capturing the memories of Che Fang, which so vividly evoked his childhood, as well as using his professional perspective as an architecture student that inspired Hao to make the film.

The project was also the perfect way to combine architecture with his dream of pursuing a career as a film director.

“The role of an architect is not simply to just design a house,” he says. “Instead, I feel, they can be more active in urban design and even play a part in the construction of public life.”

Edge Town is Hao’s first documentary and through it he says he is attempting to record and explore urban diversity, which, at times, was an overwhelming task, especially during the editing phase.

“When I was close to emotional breakdown due to the large amount of video footage I had to work with, there were times I would have given up if it were not for Austin’s encouragement and persistence,” he says.

“But now, when I watch the film back, I realise how awesome it was to be able to tell these people’s stories.”

Edge Town will be premiered on Friday 2 December, 7pm, at a screening, as part of the Urban Space Film Festival, at XJTLU’s International Academic Exchange and Collaboration Centre on South Campus.

The screening is free, open to all and will be followed by a round-table discussion about the film and about urban and cultural change in China.

Twenty students from Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University took part in a workshop to design and create prototype structures using bamboo, learning techniques from skilled Suzhou-based craftsmen.

Ten mixed working groups, each with one student from the Department of Industrial Design and one from the Department of Architecture, were asked to come up with ideas for a façade for the second floor of the Materials Library, in the new Design Building on XJTLU’s South Campus.

Each team was required to make two small-sized prototypes before a judging panel of academic staff from the two departments gave comments and selected one to turn into a full-scale prototype.

“Through the workshop, students learned basic joints, cuts, structures and weaving techniques of bamboo from two skilled craftsmen from Suzhou,” said Dr Ruggero Canova from the Department of Industrial Design.

“They gained a better understanding of the potential of craftsmanship and traditional techniques to shape the future.”

Yilin Li, a Year Four student studying BEng Industrial Design, said: “I made a light with bamboo when I was in Year Three and I am interested in designing and making things that use bamboo as a material.

“We needed to consider the characteristics of bamboo when we designed and made the prototype. Although it has good ductility, it is easily broken, so we needed to think about how to build a stable structure by putting together materials with different structural strengths.”

Yilin added that her group had problems weaving the bamboo but that the craftsmen taught them to how alternate vertical and horizontal weaves. She also found that architecture students and industrial students had different way of thinking: “We had different opinions on problems and the way we carried out our plans was also different. The workshop provided me a good opportunity to learn how architects think,” she said.

Dr Canova added that learning these kinds of team-working skills was crucial for industrial design and architecture students.

“The students learnt to appreciate the potential of group working and interdisciplinary collaboration, especially given that industrial design and architecture are extremely complementary in terms of knowledge, skills and mind-set,” he said. “It’s about creating the culture of a working community. The interaction with skilled craftsmen is also of great value for the transition from ideas to full-scale prototypes.”

Fuming Lu, one of the craftsmen, has over 35 years’ experience in working with bamboo and said that there were now no more than 10 people working in the area within Suzhou.

He explained that machine manufacturing has had very big impact on the craft: “Machines are much faster and precise when producing bamboo products, but handcrafted bamboo products are more strong and solid.”

Fuming, who taught the students how to split, cut and punch bamboo, was impressed by their work: “The small sized prototypes students made were good, but some of these prototypes may be difficult to turn into full-scale models during the practical operation,” he said.

Four teams were selected as winners for their design and prototypes, and their projects will be turned into the four sides of an actual façade in the Materials Library. The four student teams were:

• Back façade: Yuanxin Zhao and Rui Lu
• North façade: Yu Yulin and Yuqi Shen
• South façade: Zou Yina and Luo Cong
• Front façade: Lu Xiaohui and Yuanfeng Hu.

The workshop was developed and realised by Professor Pierre-Alain Croset, head of the Department of Architecture and Dr Juan Carlos Dall'Asta from the same department, as well as Dr Bingjian Liu and Dr Ruggero Canova from the Department of Industrial design. This team will support the winning students in guiding and supervising the construction company in the building of the façades.

Virtual reality technology has been misunderstood and its potential distorted, according to an expert in the field who spoke at a major conference at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University yesterday.

Professor Zhengxu Zhao (pictured below), from Shijianzhuang Tiedao University in China, who has 20 years’ experience in virtual reality research, said that its application in entertainment and games had been over-emphasised and that it should be being developed as a serious science and engineering tool.

He made the comments during a presentation at a conference on high performance computing and virtual reality for future cities, held at XJTLU.

“Virtual reality technology is often misunderstood as being nothing but simply a computer game or 3D animation or contraption of social and individual entertaining amusement,” he said.

He added that he believed virtual reality should be treated as an enabling technology that is applicable to a vast range of engineering practices and technical and scientific processes, and that the emphasis towards entertainment and games was affecting the development of the technology.

“It is misleading research and development resources and investment along the path toward market demands and social expectations that cannot simply be matched by the technology,” he said.

Virtual reality is a system in which information about sensations, such as vision, sound, touch, smell, taste and meaning, is generated and manipulated by computers and communicated to human senses by means of peripheral interfaces and integrations.

The conference at XJTLU brought together academics and industry professionals from around the world to discuss the potential of computing and virtual reality in developing cities in the future.

It featured presentations on the various ways in which virtual reality is being used for engineering, architecture and construction projects.

Among a range of presentations at the event, Dr Uwe Wössner, from the University of Stuttgart, and Professor Joachim Kieferle, from RheinMain University of Applied Sciences, demonstrated their work exploring the potential of virtual reality in the field of architecture and building information modelling (BIM), which allows for the computer simulation of a building in order to understand its behaviour before construction begins.

Their research uses virtual reality environments to allow users to better interact with BIM simulations.

They used the example of a project they were working on with elevator company Thyssen-Krupp to construct a 250-metre high tower in the south of Germany (pictured below). They demonstrated how air flow could be simulated around the tower in a virtual environment.

They also showed how a user could use their virtual environment to interact with the simulation of the flow of wind around a city in Germany.

“This gives the additional information needed during the construction of high rise towers and cities,” said Dr Wössner. “And helps us understand how wind flow, for example, affects people living in cities.”

Professor Yong Yue, head of the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering at XJTLU, gave an overview of the projects researchers in his department were working on, including 3D world manipulation techniques and interactions.

He spoke about the potential that these projects could have, especially in training for specific tasks or skills such as complex surgery in the medical field: “Doctors and nurses can practise in this virtual world to see where vital mistakes are likely to happen and how to avoid this, so they become more experienced, rather than to make mistakes in the hospital environment,” he said.

He also showcased a project that was investigating how virtual reality could be used to test mobile phone applications and how they would work in a real-life setting, giving the example of using a virtual environment to test using an app whilst riding a bike.

He added that virtual reality was a growth area for his department and that they had many plans for expanding this area of research, including continued collaboration with industry and universities around the world.

“The future is an exciting time for us,” he said.

A professional guqin player from Suzhou gave a lecture at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University sharing the history and beauty of the traditional instrument.

Mingtao Wu performed music played on the guqin, a seven-stringed instrument similar to a zither, and spoke about the instrument’s history at the XJTLU Museum’s ninth cultural lecture.

Mingtao, who is a member of the Chinese Kun Opera and Guqin Research Association and a council member of the guqin academic committee of the Chinese Traditional Instrumental Music Society (CTIMU), was accompanied by Dongying Du, also a member of the guqin academic committee at CTIMU.

The first piece Mingtao played was the song “Memorising an old friend” before talking about the instrument’s long-standing culture and 3,000 years’ of history. His lecture was filled with humourous and interesting stories.

He also spoke about the guqin’s transition from a five string to a seven string instrument and also its appearence: “The shape of the guqin is in line with the human body and it corresponds with the Yin-Yang theory of balance,” he said.

During the lecture, Dongying played two pieces that conveyed emotional stories to the audience.

At the end of the lecture, several musical instrument enthusiasts in the audience asked about the differences between Western and Eastern musical instruments and how this has affected the heritage and evolution of the music of the quqin.

Mingtao said that every culture had its own national features and that the music of the guqin was no exception, adding: “The music evolved on a daily basis although most of the current evolution is not really evolution at all, more simply a combination of different styles of songs.

“The evolution of the music of guqin is associated with people’s life experiences and players form their own unique style based on their rich life experiences.”

A group of environmental science students at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University spent a week in Japan gaining valuable onsite experience of environmental remediation and rehabilitation in developed countries.

Led by Dr Zheng Chen, a lecturer in the Department of Environmental Science, a group of six Year Four students and two staff from the department spent a week in Toyama city in Japan.

Toyama is known for an occurrence of mass cadmium poisoning that took place in the area in the 1910s. The disease was dubbed ‘Itai-itai byo’ – literally ‘it hurts-it hurts disease’ – by locals because of the severe pain victims felt in the spine and joints.

Students learnt about the area’s history and the countermeasures that were and continue to be taken to remove the cadmium pollution from contaminated rice paddies.

As well as visiting sites that had been contaminated by cadmium, they also travelled to the University of Toyama, the Toyama Prefectural Itai-itai Disease Museum, the Toyama Prefectural Environmental Science Research Centre and Seiruikaikan, a local victim organisation.

“The field trip was part of the teaching activities for a module on environmental remediation and rehabilitation and was designed to give the students a unique educational experience,” said Dr Chen.

Xiaoyu Shi said the trip helped him gain a better understanding of environmental remediation, the process that deals with the removal of pollution or contaminants from soil, groundwater, sediment, or surface water.

“I was also able to compare the development of environmental science-related industries and activities in the two countries,” he added.

Xiaoyu, who is in the final year of studying BSc Environmental Science, has already received an offer for postgraduate study from Queensland University in Australia and plans to study environmental management.

During the field trip, Professor Katsumi Marumo, from the University of Toyama, and Dr Chen gave on-site lectures on the techniques used for agricultural field remediation in Japan and Hunan Province in China.

“Throughout the visit, students learnt about the process of environmental remediation, from the technical aspects to the social impact,” said Dr Chen.

Dr Chen added that he believed a revolution on environmental protection was happening in China and that learning from developed nations, who faced similar challenges when their economies rapidly developed, was a useful experience for students.

“I think field study in Japan has given students a very special and valuable learning experience,” he added.

The trip was the first overseas field trip for students in the department and Dr Chen said he was impressed by their engagement in the activities and self-discipline during the trip.

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University has been elected as a founding member of an international translation association, the World Interpreter and Translator Training Association (WITTA).

The University, along with around 40 other organisations, was voted as a founding member at a conference and international symposium on translation in education and education in translation at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GUFS).

Well-known scholars and experts from both China and overseas in the discipline of translation education gathered together to discuss how to promote the development of international translation and interpretation education.

Representatives from the founding university members, along with international journals and well-known language service business also discussed the association’s establishment, voting for members and deciding on regulations, a council and sub-committees.

The international symposium was also a chance for participants to share their latest research on various topics including methods for translation education, translation technologies, language services and testing and evaluation.

Qian Xia, a lecturer from the Department of English at XJTLU who participated in the WITTA conference on behalf of XJTLU, said: “The founding members of WITTA not only consist of universities and colleges focused on traditional and practical translation studies, but include businesses, language and translation magazines and publishing houses.

“The combination of the members will bring academic research, communication and cooperation opportunities to XJTLU’s translation teaching and provide internship opportunities for translation studies students.”

Dr Zhoulin Ruan, head of the Department of English at XJTLU, said: “As an international Sino-foreign cooperative university, XJTLU’s participation in the founding of WITTA helps set up an international cooperation and communication platform for the University’s development of high-quality talent in translation.

“It also enhances the close integration of the translation industry with the design of our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.”

The second WITTA conference will be held at the University of Westminster in 2018.

To meet the demands for translators in the global jobs, XJTLU’s new MA Mass Media Translation programme is designed to cater to the needs of both practitioners and those aspiring to pursue research in translation studies. The programme is the first of its kind in Mainland China.

In addition, XJTLU also opened the biggest and most advanced simultaneous interpreting lab of its kind in Mainland China to train students in interpreting and simultaneous interpretation skills.

Participants from China Pharmaceutical University took part in a training programme on academic support services at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University.

The training, which was organised by XJTLU’s Institute of Leadership and Education Advance (ILEAD), offered a customised curriculum focused on sharing how XJTLU’s registry system operates, including programme management and the teaching quality assurance system.

The training also looked at teaching staff development and performance evaluation and shared best practice in teaching support as well as learning and teaching.

Participants included members of staff from CPU’s registry office as well as academic department heads and academic support staff.

Feng Feng, dean of the registry at CPU, said: “We want to improve the internationalisation of our university. From this year, we are recruiting students based on academic performance, which will put additional pressure on the registry office’s information management system.

“Our focus has been more on the development of academic staff and we have not offered much training for registry or academic support staff. If we want to reform our teaching approach, it will not be effective if only teachers change, yet the administrative system and professional services staff remain in the old style.”

Chuanhui Zhu, head of XJTLU’s Registry Office, talked about his team’s services, describing the registry as “the portal of all information for running a university”.

The team’s work includes the creation, tracking and updating of registry information throughout enrolled students’ whole time at university. Chuanhui said the task of dealing with the huge amount of information created by the over 8,000 students on campus would be impossible for the 32-person team at XJTLU without the support of information systems.

“No one can work without information systems in our office - everyone in our team has become a system expert,” he said.

Chuanhui’s counterpart, Feng Feng, agreed with Chuanhui’s conclusion. “Chuanhui explained how XJTLU is implementing a ‘student-centred’ approach to registry management through system development. These IT systems are all the same when universities first bring them in, but differences will be seen when universities start using them and how well they use.”

Other XJTLU speakers at the training included:

• Ling Wang, academic quality assurance manager
• Professor Adam Cross, dean of learning and teaching, IBSS
• Heng Ge, deputy head of the Student Affairs Office
• XiXi Wang, cente administrator, Language Centre
• Liping Tao, cluster administrator, humanities and social science.

Participants asked speakers a number of on teaching schedules, curriculum design, assessment and review, quality assurance, plagiarism, student services and the development of support for Year One students.

Xinran Wang, deputy dean of registry at CPU, said: “To implement a student-centred approach we will need to change and update our minds.

“We are still very used to the existing way of working, we are ‘managing’ not ‘supporting’ or ‘offering a service’. This training at XJTLU gave us the opportunity to observe the practice here, which inspired us a lot.

“Many of our professional service staff feel less of a sense of achievement or initiative as they feel their work is not high-tech or professional enough. After conversations with XJTLU peers they saw another possibility that you can also gain respect for your professionalism and skills.”

A workshop on financial mathematics and actuarial science, featuring speakers from around the world, shared the most recent advances in the fields to an audience of more than 50 Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University staff and students.

The one-day workshop, organised by XJTLU’s Department of Mathematical Sciences and the Research Institute of Quantitative Finance, covered topics as varied as quantitative finance, actuarial science, risk management, behaviour finance and economics.

Respected academics from around the world gave presentations on their research, while it was hoped by workshop organisers that it would lead to joint research projects between XJTLU and external institutions.

Dr Athanasios Pantelous (pictured below), from the University of Liverpool in the UK, opened with a presentation on the performance – which some see as a debatable success - of technical trading rules, using evidence from the crude oil market. His findings explained that there was no persistent nature on rules performance contrary to the outstanding in-sample results, although he added that tiny profits could be achieved in some periods.

Dr Pantelous is a reader in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at University of Liverpool and is the founder of Liverpool’s Institute for Financial and Actuarial Mathematics, which he led until 2015. Through his work with the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries in London, he provides accredited undergraduate and postgraduate training in actuarial and financial mathematics at local, national and international levels.

“This academic event was exciting and inspiring for me. To be able to have discussions with experts in the field was a great experience,” said Yurun Yang, a PhD student in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at XJTLU.

Dr Lin Yang, one of the organisers of the workshop, said: "The successful organisation of this workshop has given us the confidence to make this an annual event."

He added that the Department of Mathematical Science had already started discussions on the organisation of a second workshop to take place in the winter of 2017.

Guest speakers and their presentations included:

• Dr Hong Li, Nankai University, ‘Coherent forecasting of mortality rates: A spatial-temporal approach’
• Dr Ahmet Goncu, XJTLU, ‘Intra-day trading in Chinese commodity futures markets’
• Dr Xianming Sun (pictured above), Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, ‘Uncertainty quantification of derivative instruments’
• Dr Yi Hong (pictured below), XJTLU, ‘Variance swaps and asset allocation’
• Dr Yuxin Xie, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, ‘Loss aversion and individualism around the world: empirical evidence’
• Dr Lu Zong, XJTLU, 'Spatially aggregated temperature derivatives: agricultural risk management in China’
• Dr Zhenzhen Fan, Nankai University, ‘Equilibrium currency hedging under equity-currency contagion’
• Professor Yang Yang, Nanjing Audit University, and Dr Jiajun Liu, XJTLU, ‘Ruin with dependent insurance and financial risks in a discrete-time annuity-immediate risk model’.