Prof. Peter Rathjen, Vice-Chancellor and President of University of Tasmania (UTAS), Australia, Prof. Peter Frappell, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Global Engagement) of UTAS, and Ms. Moya Fyfe, Chief of Staff, visited IGDB on September 14. Dr. XU Weihua, Deputy Director of the institute, as well as Dr. ZHANG Jinsong, Deputy Head of the Center for Genome Research, took part in the meeting. 

Dr. XU Weihua firstly welcomed the delegation from University of Tasmania (UTAS) on behalf of Dr. Xue Yongbiao, the director of IGDB. Then he delivered a brief introduction of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and introduced visitors the organization, recently research progress and education of IGDB. Dr. Peter Rathjen gave a brief introduction to UTAS. Then, the possible collaborations, especially the joint education program and research training, were discussed between UTAS and IGDB. Both partied hoped to establish a collaboration partnership for a long term strategy.

The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a medium-sized public Australian university based in Tasmania, Australia. Officially founded on 1 January 1890, it was the fourth university to be established in nineteenth-century Australia. UTAS offers various undergraduate and graduate programs in a range of disciplines. UTAS has also been consistently ranked in the top 10 universities in Australia for research and has links with 20 specialist research institutes, cooperative research centers and faculty based research centers; many of which are regarded as nationally and internationally competitive leaders. UTAS has a student population of more than 27,000, including over 6,000 international students (on and offshore) and 1000 PhD students.