"Tianjin University Day" Held at Tohoku University

On October 11th, “Tianjin University Day” was held at Tohoku University, Japan. President Li Jiajun and Executive Vice Party Secretary Yang Xianjin attended the event. The faculty members and the students from Tianjin University (TJU) and Tohoku University came out to enjoy the wonderful celebration of “Tianjin University Day”.

TJU President Li Jiajun and President Akihisa Inoue of Tohoku University delivered the opening address respectively. In his address, President Inoue presented a brief history of the Tohoku University, its philosophy and contributions to the society of Japan. He spoke highly of the achievements made by the two universities on their recent collaboration and then added that Tohoku University attaches great importance to its friendship with TJU. The “Tianjin University Day” is the first "partner university day” held at Tohoku University and demonstrates the in-depth partnership between the two universities. He hoped that the “Tianjin University Day” would be a milestone for their friendly relationship and would promote future collaborations between the two sides.

President Li, in his address, expressed his appreciation for the strong support from President Inoue and the endeavors of the Tohoku University staff for the “Tianjin University Day”. He then gave an overview of the history of TJU, the first university in China, its current development, teaching and research achievements, and especially its cooperation with international strategic partners since the launch of its Internationalization Strategy. He also expressed his hope that “Tianjin University Day” would deepen Tohoku University’s understanding of TJU and further promote the substantial collaboration between the two sides.

To support the post-earthquake restoration of Tohoku University, TJU student representatives played their carefully prepared video conveying the sincere wishes from all TJU students, and presented the Tohoku University with a banner containing the signatures of TJU faculty members and students.

During the “Tianjin University Day”, Professor Mitsuo Niinomi, Director of the Institute for Materials Research at Tohoku University, was conferred with a TJU Honorary Professorship. At the conferring ceremony, Executive Vice Party Secretary Yang gave an introduction to Professor Niinomi’s research achievements while President Li conferred upon him the certificate of TJU Honorary Professorship.

The 2nd Seminar between TJU and Tohoku was also held during the “Tianjin University Day”. At the seminar, 12 professors and two students from both universities gave academic lectures on the topic of biological related materials. A warm discussion was also held during the seminar on biomedical material and its fundamental research. This seminar deepened the mutual understanding of each other’s current research and laid a solid foundation for further cooperation between TJU and Tohoku. It also showcased the research capabilities of the students from the two universities.

Founded in 1907, Tohoku University is located in the city of Sendai, Japan. It is one of the seven oldest Japanese national universities. It is a comprehensive university with various schools covering the disciplines of arts, sciences, engineering, medicine and agriculture. Its Metal Material Science ranks first and its physics, chemistry and electronic engineering rank top 50 in the world. It is a world leader in the field of amorphous materials. There have been frequent student and faculty exchanges between TJU and Tohoku since the two universities initiated their cooperation in 2006. That same year, Professor Inoue was conferred with a TJU Honorary Professorship, the first one from Tohoku University.