On Oct. 5th and 6th, the Tsinghua University – University of Alberta Seminar on Future Energy and Environment, as well as the Tsinghua University – University of Alberta Special Meeting on International Cooperation of Independent Research were successfully held at the University of Alberta, Canada. A delegation of over 20 representatives from Tsinghua University attended the meeting, including Prof. Yao Qiang, Tsinghua’s Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate School, and Ma Jun, Director of the Overseas R&D Management Office, General Office of Scientific R&D, as well as principal investigators of Tsinghua, together with faculty and student representatives. In total nearly a hundred teachers and students from both sides participated in the seminar.
At the seminar opening ceremony, Vice President of Research Walter Dixon of the University of Alberta welcomed the Tsinghua delegation, and Prof. Yao Qiang introduced the history of the cooperation between the two universities as well as the future prospects. Afterwards, in a session chaired by Larry Kostiuk, Assistant to the President and Director of the Future Energy System Center, experts from both sides gave over 20 reports on areas such as carbon capture, utilization and storage, water treatment, transportation systems, air pollution, electrical systems and new energy materials, carrying out detailed discussions on both current cooperative projects and potential areas of future joint research. In addition, a special student research communication seminar was organized, providing an opportunity for students to discuss both academic problems and to share their research experience.
During the same period, the preparation meeting of the Tsinghua University – University of Alberta Joint Research Center for Future Energy and Environment was also held. Prof. Yao Qiang, Director Ma Jun, Vice Director Hua Lin of the Office of Scientific Research Project, Prof. Huang Xia, Dean of the Water Environment Protection Institute, Vice President Walter Dixon, Dean Fraser Forbes of the School of Engineering and Director Larry Kostiuk took part in the meeting, in which issues such as strengthening the cooperation between the two universities in the fields of energy and environment through co-facilitating the construction of the research center were discussed.
After the seminar, Tsinghua faculty and students visited the research and teaching laboratory, the nano-manufacturing center and the electron microscope laboratory of the University of Alberta, and took part in further discussions with University of Alberta researchers and faculty.
In recent years, Tsinghua University has been actively promoting high-level international research cooperation with the goal of further enhancing its international research reputation. Since the official start of the International Cooperation of Independent Scientific Research project in 2016, Tsinghua University has focused on setting up a global strategic partner network of advanced disciplines. As part of these efforts it has initiated special joint projects with the University of Alberta in energy and environment science, with the University of Waterloo in the quantum domain, with the Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University in aerospace, advanced manufacturing, new materials and earth science, and with the University of New South Wales in fields of materials, the environment and life sciences. In total Tsinghua University has supported nearly 30 joint research projects, achieving great success in joint research and student training. Based on their cooperation, Tsinghua University and the University of Alberta signed a memorandum of understanding concerning China-Canada energy and environment research in 2012, during the visit of the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta to China. In April, 2017, during the visit of the Canadian Prime Minister to China, an agreement to co-establish a joint research center for future energy and environment was signed, and work to formally establish the center has already been started.
[updated:2017-10]
