Administrators at UW-Madison are hoping to expand study abroad, internship and research opportunities for students and faculty by creating the university's first foreign office in China.
Gilles Bousquet, dean of the Division of International Studies, left for China Saturday to discuss the partnership with Shanghai Jiao Tong University and a research park in the Minhang District of Shanghai.
According to Bousquet, the office would give UW-Madison an on-the-ground presence in a country with rapidly expanding higher education system.
"[The Chinese] are investing an enormous amount of money in higher education," she told the Wisconsin State Journal.
"In five to 10 years, the labs they are building are going to be top tier. We want to make sure our researchers, our students are connected to this new powerhouse of education. Because it's going to happen. It's a matter of a decade."
While the details of the office need to be negotiated, Bousquet said Shanghai University and government would need to help finance it. UW-Madison would offer training for Chinese professionals as one way to help pay for the office, Bousquet said.
