New China centre to open its doors

21 September 2006

The British Inter-University China Centre (BICC), the new national centre for excellence in Chinese studies, will be welcoming its first students in October.

The Centre, whose administrative base is in Oxford’s School of Inter-Disciplinary Area Studies, is a joint venture with Bristol and Manchester Universities. Funded by a £5m grant under the HEFCE, ERSC and AHRC language-based area studies initiative, it offers postgraduate studentships of up to five years. The Centre’s first six students will take up their places this year, including two studying for Oxford’s MPhil in Modern Chinese Studies. Applications will be invited soon for the 2007 intake.

In the coming months, the Centre will make its first academic appointments in Oxford: a University Lecturer in the Sociology and Development of China; a Chinese Language Instructorship; and a career development post in Chinese Philosophy in 2007.

The BICC grant is the first important step in the University’s emerging China strategy. Within the next five years, the University aspires to be a leading global centre on China, with research and teaching on China embedded in departments across the four divisions.

BICC’s Director, Dr Frank Pieke, said: ‘We are building on Oxford’s existing strengths in this area. BICC will foster academic links with other centres of excellence in research on China, importantly including those in China itself.’

BICC activities will include conferences, courses, seminars and training programmes for academic and non-academic users across the UK, including local and national government, business, and graduate students and researchers.