A TJU Delegation Headed by President Li Jiajun Visits Japan

On October 9-16th, a Tianjin University (TJU) delegation headed by President Li Jiajun and Executive Vice Party Secretary Yang Xianjin visited the University of Tokyo, the Tohoku University, the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) and TIS Inc. in Japan, and attended the Seventh China-Japan Universities Presidents Forum held in Kyoto.

During the Seventh China-Japan Universities Presidents Forum, the TJU delegation exchanged views on quality education and internationalization with the university leaders from 35 renowned universities of China and Japan, including the University of Tokyo, Peking Universities, etc. President Li, as the chairperson from the Chinese side, presided over the sub-forum themed “Internationalization of Universities” and delivered a keynote speech on this topic. In his speech, President Li shared TJU’s experience in implementing the Internationalization strategy. Its fundamental goal, he pointed out, was to train global citizens, the talents with international perspective, international qualifications and international competitiveness. By summing up the proposals and perspectives made by the participating presidents, President Li suggested that a special working team should be established to fulfill the goal of internationalization for the universities from both countries. According to the characteristics of the education in both countries, the team should try to gain more support from government and get more faculty members and students involved in the international exchanges and cooperation, to which the participants responded very positively.

During the meeting with President Fukuda Hideki of Kobe University, President Li indicated that TJU attached a great amount of importance to the cooperation with Kobe University, the first partner university of TJU. Knowing of President Li’s hope for the in-depth cooperation in terms of faculty and student exchange and joint research, President Hideki also expressed his hope that both sides could develop collaboration in the fields of management, law, economics, bio-energy and environment, and extended his invitation to TJU to attend the 110th anniversary celebration of the Kobe University in May of next year. TJU delegates also exchanged views with representatives from Osaka University and the Tokyo Institute of Technology. Both sides expressed their willingness to further extend their mutual collaboration based on joint research and personnel mobility.

During their stay in Japan, the TJU delegation attended the “Tianjin University Day” held at Tohoku University. It is the first “partner university day” held at Tohoku University and is of great significance to the further promotion of the in-depth cooperation between the two universities. At the opening ceremony of the “Tianjin University Day”, TJU student representatives played the video named “Hand in hand with Tohoku University” conveying the sincere wishes from all TJU students to support the post-earthquake restoration of Tohoku University. 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. During this time, the 2nd Seminar between TJU and the Tohoku University was also held. Fourteen professor and student representatives from both universities participated in the seminar under the topic of biological related materials. The scientific research exhibition was also held by the student representatives from the School of Materials Science and Engineering of TJU.

During their visit to the University of Tokyo, the TJU delegation was warmly received by Masako Egawa, Executive Vice President and Managing Director and Takehiko Kitamori, Dean of the School of Engineering of the University. Both sides held a discussion on the reform of the student exchange system, the exchange programs, scholarships, faculty, and the all-in-English curriculum design. A Letter of Understanding was signed between TJU and the Graduate School of Engineering of the University of Tokyo to develop further collaborative activities between them.

The TJU delegation also visited NIMS while they are in Japan. It was the first time for TJU to pay a return visit to the NIMS following the establishment of the TJU-NIMS Joint Research Center at TJU last month. At NIMS, the delegation visited the Global Research Center for Environment and Energy Based on Nanomaterials Science (GREEN), World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI) and International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA). At GREEN, the delegation observed the research and experiment of the renewable materials and visited the sample room of the building with the advanced comprehensive energy saving and environmental protection technology. At MANA, the delegation was briefed of the research achievements in the field of bio-medical materials made by MANA, which is characterized by the international exchange and multidisciplinary combination.

At TIS Inc., the delegation was welcomed by the Managing Executive Officer Yoshitoshi Mizuya, the Executive Vice President Masaki Chitose, and visited its advanced data center – GDC Gotenyama and the building of its headquarters. The Managing Executive Officer Mizuya gave an introduction regarding the GDC’s concept of energy saving and environmental protection, its development of solar energy, gas and geothermal energy, and the design and management of the green campus and smart house in the Doshisha University, Shizuoka University and Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. Both sides held a detailed discussion on the concept and design of a green campus and expressed their willingness to extend the cooperation one step further.

During their stay in Japan, President Li and Executive Vice Party Secretary Yang also met with the students and TJU alumni at the University of Tokyo and expressed concern about their work and study there. They hoped their alums could win honor for their alma mater with their hardwork and continued progress.

The successful visit to Japan by TJU delegation has laid a solid foundation for further collaboration between TJU and Japanese universities & research institutes and also accelerates the international development of TJU.