Tsinghua Week at Berkeley

Tsinghua Week at Berkeley

By Li Han

Staff Writer of the Tsinghua News Center

"Tsinghua Week at Berkeley", which runs through April 7, opened at the University of California in Berkeley on April 5. Faculty members and students from that renowned American institution and Tsinghua University are meeting to strengthen academic and cultural ties as well as to promote cooperation in various fields. The Chancellor of UC Berkeley, Robert Birgeneau, Tsinghua University President Gu Binglin, and Tsinghua Vice President Yuan Si attended the opening ceremony.

Professor Birgeneau said that the richness of the programs of the Tsinghua Week at Berkeley would enhance the extensive ties that already are being developed by individual faculty members and academic units of the two partners.

"I believe this event will build up a platform for sustainable collaboration between our two universities", said President Gu. "There is no doubt that the Tsinghua Week at Berkeley will be a landmark event in the history of bilateral relations of Tsinghua and Berkeley, not only owing to the size of the delegation, but also because of the highly productive and stimulating panel discussions."

A physics panel discussion was held after the opening ceremony. Professor Birgeneau, Tsinghua President Gu, Nobel laureate Professor C. N. Yang from Tsinghua, Nobel laureates Professor Charles H. Townes and Professor George Smoot III, as well as Professor Li Tibei, member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Professor Fan Shoushan, member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Professor Xue Qikun, member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Professor Marjorie Shapiro from UC Berkeley attended the panel hosted by Academician Zhu Bangfen from Tsinghua's School of Sciences.

Tsinghua Week at Berkeley features keynote speeches delivered by famous scholars and a series of academic sessions jointly arranged by faculty members from the two universities. The Week will have panel discussions covering themes of energy and environmental issues, higher education, literature and history, poverty alleviation, development of new technologies, business innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as other academic and administrative topics.

Alongside the academic activities, a Tsinghua Photo Exhibition featuring Tsinghua's development and works from its Academy of Arts & Design is also being held on the campus during the Week.

The Tsinghua student representatives will also have extensive interaction with their Berkeley peers. Besides the tour on campus, 44 members of the Student Art Troupe will perform Chinese folk dancing and traditional music together with a renowned men's a capella octet from UC Berkeley.

(Photo by Cui Kai)