Recently, China University of Petroleum (UPC) has achieved an important breakthrough in the development and promotion of internationalized curricula. Three English-medium courses—Physical Properties of Petroleum Reservoir, Gas Reservoir Engineering, and Physics of Fluid Flow in Porous Media, led by Professor Sun Renyuan from School of Petroleum Engineering, have been selected for the curriculum series of the Indonesian Cyber Education Institute (ICE).
Physical Properties of Petroleum Reservoir has a long history and a clearly-defined trajectory. Launched as an English-medium course for international students in 2007, it was selected among the first batch of Brand Courses for English medium instruction to International Students by the Ministry of Education in 2013. In 2020, it underwent digital transformation and was launched on the international platform of Xuetang X. The course has been offered for 11 sessions, attracting more than 9,000 enrollments from over 40 countries including the United States, Russia, Pakistan, and Indonesia. It has become an important online bridge linking UPC with students in the energy field worldwide and cultivating international talents with an understanding of and friendship for China.
Gas Reservoir Engineering closely aligns with the cutting‑edge needs of the global natural gas industry, adopting a dual‑drive model of bilingual and English medium instruction. It serves both the cultivation of domestic innovative talents and the dissemination of advanced knowledge to international learners. The course was awarded a Provincial Excellent Course in 2013 and recognized as a First‑Class Undergraduate Course of Shandong Province in 2024. Since its launch in 2020, it has been delivered for 11 sessions, drawing learners from more than 30 countries including the United States, Tanzania, Yemen, and Indonesia, providing valuable intellectual support for global natural gas development.
Physics of Fluid Flow in Porous Media is a core and fundamental postgraduate course at UPC. The teaching team has successfully realized the international transformation of course content and teaching models by integrating the profound foundation of Chinese‑medium instruction with training objectives for international students. Since its launch in 2022, the course has been operating efficiently for 7 sessions, with students from more than 10 countries including the United States, Indonesia, and Russia, offering key support for cultivating high‑level, professional petroleum engineering talents with an international vision.
Supported by the national “Double First‑Class” discipline and key discipline of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering, the three courses feature solid academic foundations and distinct contemporary characteristics. Their selection marks important progress in UPC’s “Going Global” initiative for online courses, fully demonstrating its solid capacity and remarkable influence in developing English-medium courses, exporting high‑quality educational resources, and nurturing international talents. It represents another key achievement in advancing the strategy of educational internationalization and serving energy cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative. Going forward, UPC will continue to further develop high‑quality curriculum resources, expand its network of international educational cooperation, and make greater contributions to advancing the internationalization of China’s higher education, serving the national energy strategy, and training global talents.
Translated: Sun Yuqi, Geng Haiwei
Reviewed: Xu Xiaoyan
Updated: 2026-03-24
