The Technical University of Munich (TUM) is strengthening its cooperation with China in climate change, sustainability, and health research areas. During a trip to Beijing, Shenzhen, and Shanghai, TUM President Prof. Thomas F. Hofmann signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the flagship partner university Tsinghua. The TUM delegation also visited other universities, companies, and start-ups to expand its science-specific local expertise.
President Hofmann emphasized: “We can only solve the world’s major challenges, such as climate change and the consequences of population growth, by working together. This is why scientific cooperation and the intercultural exchange of students with China is both an obligation and an opportunity. I also believe that many German universities can learn from top universities in China, such as Tsinghua University! We want to explore and shape new opportunities for cooperation with China in research, teaching, and student exchange. This also includes carefully identifying possible cooperation risks and defining cooperation conditions and limits.”
In the collaboration with the International Graduate School (SIGS) of Tsinghua University in the southern Chinese coastal city of Shenzhen, TUM will work together primarily on the sustainable development of urban living spaces. Both partners attach particular importance to personal contact and exchange between researchers. SIGS Dean Ouyang Zheng said: “Tsinghua SIGS and TUM can work together to build programs that support economic development and benefit the world.” In addition to the visit to Tsinghua SIGS, the trip also included an exchange with the new Tsinghua President Li Luming in Beijing, during which the student exchange agreement between TUM and Tsinghua was extended. Other stops on the trip included Peking University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Tongji University with its Chinese-German University College.
Successful cooperation in entrepreneurship
In the field of entrepreneurship, TUM has maintained a successful cooperation with Tsinghua University since 2016 with the TIE² program. This year, for the first time since the COVID phase, participants will gain exciting insights into the Chinese innovation ecosystem, specific market conditions in the Chinese economic area, and start-up support structures during a one-week stay on site. President Hofmann emphasized the strategic importance of such international entrepreneurship activities to facilitate the faster global scaling of start-ups.
In Beijing and Shanghai, the delegation from Munich also met with TUM alumni. President Hofmann said: “It is great to see how our TUM family now spans the globe. Even after graduation, students remain part of our university community. They are ambassadors of our values and carry the entrepreneurial spirit of TUM out into the world. Especially in geopolitically challenging times, science is called upon to keep bridges open and realistically shape cooperation with China. Because ignorance and ignorance divide the world, only exchange connects people and cultures – and this is the basis for healthy global development.”