Source：Sino-German Faculty of Branding
Recently, the Joint Institute of Zhejiang Wanli University and Brand University of Applied Sciences has officially received approval from the Ministry of Education to establish two new master’s degree programs––Design Innovation and International Brand Communication. This marks a significant breakthrough in the level of Sino-foreign cooperative education at ZWU and further strengthens its talent cultivation system centered on brand development.
Both master’s programs are open to nationwide enrollment, admitting 30 students per program each year, with a standard duration of two years. The curriculum is fully aligned with the “Brand Science” academic standards of the Brand University of Applied Sciences, Germany.
The M.A. program of Design Innovation focuses on the interdisciplinary integration of “AI+ Brand Design”, aiming to cultivate students who systematically master brand design and digital media technologies, proficiently apply AI in creative generation and intelligent interaction design, and integrate traditional Chinese aesthetics with modern design. The program is dedicated to nurturing interdisciplinary professionals with strengths in design thinking, technological development, and cultural innovation.
The M.A. program of International Brand Communication centers on “Brand Globalization + Practical Communication”, equipping students with theories of international brand communication, digital marketing strategies, and cross-cultural communication skills. Graduates will be capable of independently planning and executing the full process of brand internationalization, growing into innovative communication professionals suited to the global market.
Teaching for both programs will be conducted at ZWU, adopting a dual-mentor system that combines academic supervisors and industry mentors. Faculty members from both Chinese and German universities, together with industry experts, will jointly participate in student training. In the second academic year, students may voluntarily apply to study for one year at the Brand University of Applied Sciences, Germany, gaining immersive exposure to Germany’s educational environment and industry resources.
Since its establishment, the Sino-German Joint Institute has achieved remarkable teaching outcomes. It has been selected as an Outstanding Sino-Foreign Cooperative Education Case of Zhejiang Province and an Excellent Case of the Fifth Ningbo Education Reform and Innovation Awards. Since 2023, the institute has added three provincial-level first-class international undergraduate courses, and its contributions to the university’s international education initiatives have won the Second Prize of the Zhejiang Provincial Teaching Achievement Awards, as well as the Special Prize and First Prize of Ningbo Teaching Achievement Awards.
The institute actively introduces high-level German faculty. The German Vice Dean, Professor Stefan Waller, was awarded the “West Lake Friendship Award”––the highest honor conferred by Zhejiang Province to foreign experts. Additionally, three German faculty members have been selected for Ningbo’s “Yongjiang Talent Program”. In academic exchange and international cooperation, the institute has hosted over 100 lectures in the “International Brand Innovation” series, co-organized four Sino-German Brand Innovation Forums and two International Brand Communication Conferences, and jointly advanced scientific research cooperation. In the past three years, it has secured two National Arts Fund projects. Faculty and research teams have jointly published two brand science monographs with Springer Nature, and published over 30 high-quality papers in SCI/SSCI/A&HCI journals and CCF-A/B conferences.
The institute’s distinctive German-style deep integration of industry and education continues to stand out. It has newly added nine industry-education integration practice bases, established a joint laboratory with the renowned German brand company Mutabor, co-built a “Digital Intelligence Collaboration Center” with the leading cultural and creative enterprise Visual China, and jointly launched a dual-system talent cultivation program in brand development with the German Hape Group, which has been selected as a pilot program by the Ministry of Education and Zhejiang Province. Leveraging its international education strengths and interdisciplinary advantages, the institute has achieved continuous breakthroughs in student competitions. Students have presented research outcomes at the Asia-Pacific Communication Forum and the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, won gold medals consecutively at the Zhejiang Provincial and Ningbo University Student Innovation Competitions, secured one silver award and one bronze award at the “Zhejiang Challenge Cup”, obtained a National First Prize in the National English Competition for College Students, and received one national-level and four provincial-level awards in the National College Students Advertising Art Competition. Students have also won awards in international competitions such as the China Packaging Creative Design Competition, Ningbo Golden Camellia Advertising Creative Competition, Milan Design Week, and Italy’s A’Design Award.
Looking ahead, the Joint Institute of Zhejiang Wanli University and the Brand University of Applied Sciences will continue to deepen Sino-German educational integration, strengthen brand science discipline development, and build a professional matrix integrating Arts, Technology, Business, and Media. By expanding networks of industry-academia-research collaboration and optimizing the operation mechanisms of cooperative education, the institute will further enhance talent cultivation, scientific research, industry-education integration, and international exchange, striving to cultivate high-level application-oriented professionals and serve national and regional development strategies.