Class of 2026 celebrates graduation and new beginnings

The graduation ceremonies held between 27 and 31 July 2026 marked the close of an academic chapter for 4,816 XJTLU students. Of these, 3,797 undergraduates received graduation and bachelor's degree certificates from Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) alongside bachelor's degree certificates from the University of Liverpool (UoL), with 1,244 recognised with First Class Honours.

XJTLU Class of 2026

The remaining 938 master's students and 81 doctoral students received their postgraduate degrees from UoL, with 217 master's graduates achieving a Distinction.

XJTLU graduating students

Professor Youmin Xi (right) with a graduating student

In his address to graduates, Professor Youmin Xi, Executive President of XJTLU, reflected on what the University believes education is truly for. “I often say that XJTLU hopes to help young people whom the world may see as ordinary grow into extraordinary global citizens.”

A university’s job, he said, is not to find the people who already shine. It is to help more people find their own light.

Professor Youmin Xi

Professor Wenquan Tao, President of XJTLU, framed the relationship between the institution and the graduate as one of genuine interdependence. The University does not simply produce graduates, he suggested. It grows through them. “We are a family here,” he added, “and it is only through the achievements of our graduates that the University can realise its vision and mission.”

Professor Wenquan Tao

Professor Tim Jones, Vice-Chancellor of UoL, did not let the occasion pass without grounding it in the world graduates are about to enter. The UoL degree they now hold, he noted, is awarded by a university ranked among the top 140 globally in the QS World University Rankings and is aiming to reach the top 100 by 2031. But the more pressing ranking, he suggested, is the one graduates will earn for themselves.

Professor Gavin Brown (right)

Professor Zhiwei Shan, Vice President of Xi'an Jiaotong University, the other parent university of XJTLU, was present during the graduation celebration on 30 July 2026.

XJTLU class of 2026

Michael Fortune from Indonesia decided to pursue both his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at XJTLU. He first completed a BEng in Mechatronics and Robotic Systems in 2024, then obtained an MSc in Data Science in 2026. The ability to intern at a company and channel that experience directly into his final year project was, he said, unlike anything he had encountered elsewhere.

Michael Fortune (left) and Professor Youmin Xi

“I felt I really benefited from the career opportunities that the XJTLU Career Centre provided,” Fortune said. He also found an unexpected warmth among his Chinese classmates. Both things, the professional and the personal, made staying an easy decision.

Zhuo Chen, who received his BEng in Intelligent Robotics Engineering with Contemporary Entrepreneurialism this year, did not arrive at XJTLU Entrepreneur College (Taicang) already thinking like an engineer, but he left that way. Working in a joint university-enterprise lab with Zhixing Robot Technology on robotic dexterous hands, he developed, under the guidance of Dr Haoran Li, a systematic framework for translating industry challenges into research questions and research questions into verifiable solutions.

Professor Youmin Xi (right) posing for a selfie with a graduating student

“The core competency of engineering talent,” Chen said, “has never been mastery of a single technical skill.” He will continue to pursue a master’s degree in medical robotics and image-guided intervention at Imperial College London, UK.

Siying Qu, now a BSc Biopharmaceuticals graduate, arrived at XJTLU from a high school where every decision had been made for her. The freedom of university, at first, felt more like disorientation than opportunity. Working on a psoriasis drug candidate under the supervision of Dr Yixue Qiao at XJTLU Wisdom Lake Academy of Pharmacy, she learned to treat experimental setbacks as opportunities for analysis rather than failures.

“Four years ago, I was used to waiting for things to be arranged for me,” she said. “Now I know exactly where I am headed.” She will head to Johns Hopkins University, US, to pursue her studies in immunoengineering.

XJTLU graduation ceremony

by Vionna Fiducia Theja
Edited by Xinmin Han and Patricia Pieterse