Calendar 2003–04

76 Par Spain, and Japan. Many graduates of the University have also obtained fellowships for advanced studies in these and other countries. The University has also benefited from the support of various foundations for staff development, research, scholarships, and exchange programmes with an international dimension. These foundations include the Yale–China Association, the Harvard–Yenching Institute, the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia, the Fulbright Program, the Japan Foundation, the Wei Lun Endowment Fund Foundation, the Sino–British Fellowship Trust and the Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund Council. The University’s constituent colleges as well as other academic units have individually established links with universities abroad. The University has consistently developed academic links and research collaboration with educational and research institutions on the mainland and in Taiwan. Both the scope and the mode of exchange activities have expanded considerably over the years. Each year the University receives about 1,000 academic visitors from the mainland and Taiwan. At the same time, hundreds of faculty staff of the University conduct academic visits to institutions on the mainland and in Taiwan. Some of them also serve as honorary professors, advisers and consultants to various mainland institutions and government agencies. Formal exchange agreements have been concluded by the University or its academic departments with various institutions, including theAcademy of Military Medical Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Chongqing University, College of Foreign Affairs, Fourth Military Medical University, Fudan University, Harbin University of Technology, Lanzhou University, Nanjing University, Peking University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shantou University, Sichuan University, Tianjin University, Tsinghua University, Yunnan University, Wuhan University, Xiamen University, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Zhejiang University, Zhongshan University, as well as the Academia Sinica, Taiwan University, Taiwan Chiao Tung University, and Sun Yat-sen University in Taiwan. The University has established a number of multi-lateral, and cross- disciplinary research centres with its partners such as the Shanghai–Hong Kong Development Institute, the Joint Research Centre for Biomedical Engineering, the Epithelial Cell Biology Research Centre, the Joint Laboratory for Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, the Joint Centre for Intelligence Engineering, the Joint Laboratory for Geoinformation Science, and the Hong Kong Base of Research, Development and Training of the National Remote Sensing Centre of China. These centres play a very important role in promoting high-standard scientific research and enhancing collaborative relationship among the partners. The University, together with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has also solicited support from business enterprises to set up the Shanghai–Hong Kong–Anson Research Foundation for CAS and CUHK in Molecular Biosciences.