On Dec. 21, the Tsinghua University – Tohoku University Academic Symposium was held in Tsinghua’s Main Building. Before the symposium, Tsinghua President Qiu Yong met with Tohoku University President Susumu Satomi, discussing issues such as strengthening cooperation, co-cultivation of graduate students, and the carrying out of joint research. Tsinghua Vice President Xue Qikun attended the meeting and gave a speech in the symposium.

 

Qiu Yong welcomed the Japanese guests and introduced Tsinghua’s academic discipline construction and future plans. Tsinghua University and Tohoku University have long been cooperative partners. The two universities first signed a cooperative agreement in 1998, such that year 2018 will mark the twentieth anniversary of the signing. In his speech Qiu Yong expressed his hope that the two universities could actively engage in substantial communication and exchanges, thereby promoting their cooperative relationship into a new phase.

 

In response Susumu Satomi said that Tohoku University attaches great importance to its cooperation with Tsinghua University, adding that he was glad to co-organize this academic symposium with the assistance of Tsinghua University. Next year the two universities will organize a joint symposium in Tohoku University.

 

Relevant personnel from Tsinghua’s Department of Physics, the School of Materials Science, the International Office, and the Office of Scientific R&D attended the meeting.

 

After the meeting, Susumu Satomi, Toshiya Ueki, Vice President of Tohoku University, Academician Xue Qikun, Tsinghua Vice President and co-Director of the Joint Innovation Center for Quantum Material Science, as well as nearly a hundred teachers and students from both universities participated in the symposium.

 

In his opening speech at the symposium, Xue Qikun pointed out that Tsinghua University and Tohoku University have lots in common, such as their pursuit in academic achievements and their efforts in facilitating research innovation and talent cultivation. He noted that the two universities have been deepening their communication in various fields such as physical science and physics, and expressed his wish that the two sides could communicate further in the areas of materials science and spintronics, to achieve significant results of international influence.

 

In his speech Susumu Satomi noted that Tsinghua University and Tohoku University have a deep friendship, and hoped that more Tsinghua students would visit and study in Tohoku University in the future, to further strengthen the communication and cooperation between the two universities. Toshiya Ueki introduced the general situation, the history and recent research successes of Tohoku University. As one of the first 13 universities of the Japanese government’s “Global 30” plan, and as an important base for accepting international students, Tohoku University draws wide attention from Japanese society.

 

The theme of this year’s symposium was “Materials science, spintronics”, and included 2 keynote reports and 12 special reports. Prof. Hideo Ohno gave a report entitled “Spintronics for information processing - from low-power integrated circuits to artificial intelligence”, and Prof. He Ke from the Department of Physics gave a report entitled “Manipulating magnetism and chiral edge states of quantum anomalous Hall systems”. Wang Yayu, Dean of the Department of Physics, and Lin Yuanhua, Dean of the School of Materials Science each introduced their research progress. During the symposium representatives from both sides engaged in deep discussions concerning cutting-edge issues such as the quantum anomalous Hall effect, information processing in artificial intelligence, semiconductor nanostructures, and topological insulators.

 

The symposium was co-organized by Tsinghua University’s Department of Physics, the School of Materials Science, and the Department of Chemistry. The Department of Physics’ Vice Dean Long Guilu and the School of Materials Science’s Vice Dean Zhu Hongwei acted as chairs at the symposium, which was also attended by representatives from the International Office and the Office of Scientific R&D.