The president of NUI Galway, Dr Iognáid Ó Muircheartaigh, is leading a college delegation to China to strengthen links between the university and 17 Chinese institutions. Clifford Coonanreports.
A chapter of the NUI Galway Alumni Association was also launched during the visit this week.
Director of alumni relations in NUI Galway, JB Terrins, pointed out that four athletes with connections with the college would be returning to Beijing to represent Ireland in the Olympic Games next summer.
They are medical student and sprinter Paul Hession, heavyweight rowers Alan Martin and Cormac Folan, and alumna Olive Loughnane, who will compete in the 20km walk.
During the visit Prof William Schabas, of the Irish Centre for Human Rights, delivered a paper at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, with which NUI Galway signed a formal agreement.
NUI Galway also signed deals with the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology and the Institute of Oceanology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Qingdao.
Irish third-level institutions have been active in courting Chinese colleges and universities. Last month a UCD delegation headed by Dr Hugh Brady, the college president, visited China.
Mr Ó Muircheartaigh said the visit of the delegation provided a platform for NUI Galway's existing and developing connections with China, and helped "pave the way for increased co-operation in educational exchange, research and development, and in greater cultural understanding."
Anna Cunningham, the director of international affairs at NUI Galway, said attracting high-calibre international research students was a strategic priority for NUI Galway.
"We are fortunate to have solid links in place already with a range of prestigious Chinese universities. The objective of this visit is to formalise these links and create further opportunities for reciprocal exchange of postgraduate students and collaborative research," she said.