Recently, 22 students from The University of Queensland, Australia visited Dalian Neusoft University of Information for a distinctive “technology plus culture” exploration tour. They admired exhibitions at the School of Digital Arts and Design, watched robot demonstrations and experienced 3D printing and virtual reality technologies in laboratories, viewed data visualizations of the smart campus in the Digital Intelligent Campus Exhibition Hall, and listened to Chinese students share stories of project incubation and entrepreneurship at the Student Original Venture Organization (SOVO). They were full of praise for Neusoft’s beautiful campus and cutting edge learning environment.

This served as the ice breaking tour ahead of the official launch of the 2026 China Australia Youth Envoy Study Exchange Program, namely the Neusoft The University of Queensland “Start up China” IT Innovation Project. The “Start up China” initiative was first launched between the two universities in 2017. Six sessions have been successfully held so far, involving hundreds of Chinese and Australian students and generating more than 30 market potential IT product prototypes. This summer, the seventh session officially kicked off on our campus. 22 students from The University of Queensland and 36 Chinese and international students from our university formed mixed teams to conduct joint R&D for several weeks around real world industrial topics.

The opening ceremony was held on June 29. Vice President Zhang Wan delivered a speech, acknowledging the program’s long term achievements and encouraging young people from both universities to learn from one another and build a shared future. Professor Richard Neil Thomas, Deputy Dean of the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at The University of Queensland, addressed the ceremony online, encouraging students to break down cultural barriers and exchange innovative ideas bravely. Faculty from the host school as well as Chinese and Australian student representatives also spoke in turn. All expressed hopes to improve professional competence and deepen cross cultural understanding through this practical program.