British Inter-university China Centre: Phase 3

Investment in the British Inter-university China Centre (BICC) remains of vital national importance. We must look ahead strategically and adapt the UK's priorities swiftly and appropriately to address the research and educational demands arising from China's emergence, as what many today are calling "the Chinese century" unfolds. The UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office's 2010 strategy document, 'The UK and China: A framework for engagement', stated bluntly that "China's impact on UK interests is already critical, and it is growing." One of the aims it set out for shaping the UK's response was 'equipping the British people to seize the China opportunity through better understanding of China and better Chinese language skills', and through 'increased educational and scientific links at institutional level between universities, research bodies, colleges and schools, and a greater two way flow of students, academics and researchers'. The objective of BICC's programme of activity remains as it was in the current phase: to inform and contribute to these strategically vital processes.

In BICC the universities of Bristol, Manchester and Oxford combined forces to develop the UK's premier teaching and research facility on China. Each of the three partner institutions had embarked on a major investment in this area, thus leveraging the long-term impact that the grant will have.

In its second phase, BICC foregrounded the building of new knowledge exchange partnerships with non-academic organisations, and the inauguration of new international research networks, in which knowledge exchange activities will be embedded, all of this activity being grounded in language expertise, and supported by a new programme of language training for university and non-university researchers in Chinese studies.

In its third phase the programme of new activity maintains the impetus of the work already delivered, focussing on the humanities and languages areas and on knowledge exchange [KE] and partnership activity. Embedded in the wider institutional context of each partner, it continues to contribute to shaping debates and informing practice in key areas of policy concern including human rights, natural disasters, multiculturalism, and international diplomacy, as well as cultural engagement with creative sector SMEs, or other public or third sector cultural or civic organisations. It involves providing new vehicles for facilitating such engagement, including with international partners, providing opportunities for early career researchers, and extending the reach of BICC's engagement with UK and international partners. Activities will not be restricted to researchers and students already within the BICC orbit, nor to those at BICC partner institutions. KE has been central to BICC activities since the start of its operations, although many of our researchers and students have initially focused on academic career development: PhD research, academic networking, and publication. In this follow-on funding phase we are able to place KE at the heart of our structured new activity, and that way to provide early career researchers at an early stage in their development with experience and exposure to relationships and interactions outside the HEIs.

Our Pathway 1 programme of partnerships for knowledge exchange will demonstrate the value of research, knowledge and understanding in Chinese studies humanities and language areas for external partners, in particular in the policy, NGO and the cultural sector. Such KE engagement will be threaded theroughout our network activities as well, building on the models deployed in the first 7 years of BICC activity.

China remains a key area of growing attention for policy-makers. The culture and history of China have been shown by earlier and current activity to be critical areas of foreign policy interest, and will be addressed through our portfolio of networking and placement partnerships. BICC researchers at the FCO will have a direct impact on policy-making by writing reports for internal circulation and giving a presentation to its in-house seminar series, which involves the MoD, DfID and BIS. Moreover, the new co-director at Oxford, Barend J. ter Haar, has been active previously in the Netherlands behind the scenes with his own FO in the field of religious freedom. This is a highly sensitive topic, but one in which real contributions can be made by language based researchers.

AHRC is also adopting a focus on UK creative economy engagement with China, and our programme of placements with the Chinese museum sector will support that activity, by building up a body of experienced early career researchers who have experience of working in that sector, and also a body of reports for circulation to international agencies (such as UNESCO) and to UK stakeholders.

Where appropriate, Pathway 2 research network co-ordinators will include government offices and creative economy partners in planning network activities, and in workshops and conferences. FCO has expressed much interest in historical approaches to UK-China relations, and to understanding contemporary China, so BICC will include it in its CEELBAS/BICC Russia/China, and 'The use of accusations in social and political conflicts' networks, as well as the 'Disasters' and 'China in Ten Words' programmes. BICC will also use research networks to pursue new ties with cultural institutions, government and policy-makers.