Duke Kunshan University; Photo courtesy of www.dku.edu.cn

If studying in China has always sounded like an exciting prospect, it just got even better with the announcement that Duke Kunshan University (DKU) will be open to students for Fall classes in 2014.

The joint venture between the U.S.’s Duke University and China’s Wuhan University has formally been approved by the Chinese Ministry of Education.

Campus construction is ongoing, and the 750,000 square foot residential campus will be completed on a 200-acre site within the Kunshan Yangcheng Lake Science Park. The campus will include classroom facilities, library, student and faculty housing, dining, study spaces, and recreational facilities.

“DKU will be a world-class centre for teaching and learning, helping to develop a new model of global education,” says Duke University President Richard H. Brodhead. “It will be a vibrant place of inquiry where Duke faculty and students can have a deeper level of engagement with China, a part of the world that is rapidly increasing in significance. We look forward to welcoming students from all corner of the world to the new campus in Kunshan.”

The university will offer masters degree programs in global health (through the Duke Global Health Institute) and management studies (through the Fuqua School of Busness), as well as a proposed degree in medical physics, to begin with. Additional programs will be offered in future years.

All graduate degree programs completed at DKU will lead to Duke University degrees.

Duke Kunshan University Campus in Kunshan; Photo courtesy of www.today.duke.edu

Undergraduate students enrolled at universities in China and around the world can take part in a DKU Undergraduate Global Learning Semester for the 2014-2015 academic year. This will enable them to study undergraduate courses in global health, humanities, physical and natural sciences, and social sciences.

“The creation of this new university should be a meaningful step in establishing and completing China’s modern university system, and it will open up a new world for higher education cooperation between China and the U.S.,” says Wuhan University President Li Xiaohong.

Over 50 members of the Duke faculty are planning to teach at DKU during its first two years of operation.

DKY is governed by an independent board of trustees. The Chancellor is Liu Jingnan, a distinguished scientist, former president of Wuhan University and a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Executive Vice-Chancellor is Mary Brown Bullock, former president of Agnes Scott College in Atlanta.

For information on applying for Fall 2014, see the DKU website.

Tags: Duke University, Wuhan University, Duke Kunshan University