On April 24, professor Trevor McMillan, President of keele university, and professor warren Bebbington, former president of Adelaide, Australia and professor of university of Melbourne, visited NAEA and delivered a thematic report on the theme of "scientific research development of first-class universities" for the 53^rd session of training course for young and middle-aged cadres in colleges and universities.

　　On the topic "knowledge exchange and university impact", professor McMillan lectured on the major economic contributions of universities. He pointed out that universities serve as an "anchor of stability" by constantly carrying out high-quality research and teaching, actively serving local or regional development, providing extensive business support, sharing and co-building infrastructure. He elaborated the main fields of university service area and national service development from the aspects of research and innovation, enterprise and business development, human capital development and social equity. He employed data to explain the direct economic contribution of keele university, explicit that in the innovation ecosystem, university are expected to transform into a variety of roles, build the academic organization and the external mechanism of knowledge exchange organization, put forward some suggestion, set up a knowledge, including principles, values, standards, and communication framework of knowledge system, clarified the Kiel New Deal. Finally, he believed that cooperation between universities will create greater value.

　　Professor Bebbington's lecture is entitled "teaching and learning in research universities". He began by telling Humboldt story, traced back to the traditional European university teaching mode, summarized the ideal and characteristics of Humboldt university, such as teaching and research, academic freedom, small class discussion. Reviewed the advantages of university education in the 1960s such as Britain, the United States and Australia, analyzed the problems and cause of the reason, introduced the small-class teaching and discussion, MOOC and online learning content such as "enlightenment lighthouse", put forward six tasks of research university, pointed out that students interact with teachers closely in small-class is of crucial importance, to regain and capture the excitement of discovery in the teaching of undergraduate course, to cultivate the characteristics and qualities expected of graduates, to develop digital tools and means for communication and cooperation, to strengthen the development and renewal of academic teaching, and to share the joy and enthusiasm of discovering new knowledge in public. He also suggested that the government should support universities in choosing and undertaking a variety of missions and tasks, such as teaching and research, transmitting the known and exploring the unknown, broadening the mind and deepening social criticism, service industries and changing social patterns, international reputation and domestic brands.

　　Students were eager to ask questions, which were answered in detail by two professors. Students have had in-depth interaction with them on issues such as the standards of first-class universities, teacher recruitment, role of teachers in MOOC, evaluation of MOOC effect, student recruitment, comparison of technology transfer between universities and scientific research institutions, and network evaluation of teaching.

　　This Thematic report is the first English lecture of the 53^rd session of training course for young and middle-aged cadres in colleges and universities, which is the exchange of higher education knowledge between China and the west, the collision views of higher education between China and the west, and the communication of higher education culture between China and the west. Through bilingual learning, it opens a window of "foreign countries" for students to understand the mission and role of the university, broadens their vision of "overseas", and shows and exercises their English expression ability. It is a unique training form.

　　Professor McMillan is a leading expert on higher education policy in the UK. Prof. Bebbington has visited NAEA many times, and on behalf of the university of Adelaide, he has received the delegations which were dispatched by NAEA several times. Vice President Yu had a formal meeting with two professors. (Chinese version by Chen Zhiyong, Provost of Putian University; Reviewed by: Hu Ruijun, Professor of  NAEA; English version by Chen Yang, Office for International Cooperation, NAEA)