Minister of BMBF Was Awarded as Honorary Doctorate of Tongji University

On June 2nd, Annette Schavan, Minister of BMBF, was awarded as honorary doctorate of Tongji University.

The Degree-granting ceremony was held in the International Conference Centre on Jiading Campus of our university. Zhou Jialun, Chairman of our University Council, hosted the ceremony and presented the Tongji badge to Schavan. President Pei Gang awarded the honorary doctorate certificate to Schavan.

In the speech, President Pei Gang expressed his appreciation for Minister Schavan s contribution and supports in the Sino-German interaction of science and technology. He also believed that it would be a new start point for the successful cooperation of both sides to award Minister Schavan the honorary doctorate of Tongji University.

Schavan expressed her gratitude to Tongji University for endowing her with this honor. She said that the successful implementation of intercultural dialogue in the era of globalization was particularly important today. She hoped the international technical exchanges and cooperation between Tongji University and German universities would be strengthened in the next few years in order to bring more knowledge, understanding and cultural foundation.

Annette Schavan has served as the German Federal Minister of Education and Research since November 2005. She has promoted vigorously the Sino-German cooperation in the fields of education, science and technology. Under her personal motivation, China and Germany launched the Sino-German Year of Science and Education 2009/2010.

Minister Schavan visited China from 14th to 18th April 2008. In the meantime, she specially visited Tongji university and made a lecture for teachers and students. The "Tongji Forum", held in October 2009 in Berlin Germany, sponsored by Tongji, also received strong support from the German Research Department. Schavan sent a congratulatory letter stating that "Tongji University plays an important role in Sino-German exchange and cooperation in education and scientific research and has made outstanding contributions. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Scientific Research will, as always, support the exchanges and cooperation between Tongji and Germany. "