Royal Society of Chemistry accreditation first for Sino-foreign university in China

LONDON, Feb. 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Department of Chemistry at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University has become the first at an independent Sino-foreign university in China to achieve professional accreditation for its undergraduate degree programme.

The BSc Applied Chemistry programme was granted accreditation by the Royal Society of Chemistry in the United Kingdom, one of the world's foremost professional bodies for chemical scientists.

The accreditation means that upon graduation, BSc Applied Chemistry students will have partially gained the academic requirements needed to achieve chartered status and be able to demonstrate internationally recognised standards of competency as chemists.

Professor Rudi Marquez, head of chemistry at XJTLU, said: "We're delighted to have achieved this accreditation, which, in addition to demonstrating the high-quality of the programme, is a testament to ambition of staff in the department to develop a programme that is a leader amongst chemistry degrees in China."

The accreditation was granted after a rigorous quality assurance process that involved an on-site visit by a team of Royal Society of Chemistry representatives and academics. They toured the department's facilities and laboratories, teaching rooms and the XJTLU library, as well as talking to current students about their experiences on the programme.

A report, compiled after the on-site visit, commended a wide range of aspects of the programme, including the facilities, which were highlighted as "some of the best" the site visit team had seen.

The experience of students on the programme was also praised in the report, including the amount of hands-on experience students gain with equipment, and the relationship between staff and students in the department.

Toby Underwood, accreditation manager at the Royal Society of Chemistry, said: "Accreditation of degrees is an important aspect of the Royal Society of Chemistry's duty as a professional body for chemistry. Not only does it allow us to share global best practice, but through peer review we give staff and students reassurance that the quality of a degree is appropriate for their future careers, and help with mobility if they wish to continue studying overseas."

Founded in 2006, XJTLU is the largest independent Sino-foreign university in China, a partnership between Xi'an Jiaotong University in China and the University of Liverpool in the UK.

XJTLU is part of a small group of independent Sino-foreign universities operating in China, defined as legally independent entities formed as joint ventures between Chinese universities and international partners.