In search of academic excellence

Tsinghua University is planning to recruit more talented professors from abroad and further its international research and development (R&D) collaborations in its quest to be one of the top universities in the world.

The university, which celebrated its 100th anniversary on April 24, expects to attract 200 eminent overseas professors and associate professors to join its faculty by 2020, say officials from the university's publicity department.

As part of its efforts, the university had roped in 50 professors from top universities and research institutions across the world till last year.

The new faculty members are expected to be full-time professors and will not only teach students, but also be part of the innovative research programs at the university.

Tsinghua, which started as a school that prepared Chinese students for studies in the United States, has always been at the forefront of attracting overseas talent in China.

Over the last few years the university has managed to attract top-notch talent from the United States, Japan and Europe, say university officials.

According to Chen Xu, deputy Party chief of Tsinghua University, the university has set a goal to be a top first-class university by 2020 and will also look to be one of the best academic institutions in the world by 2050.

At the same time, the university plans to step up its collaboration in international research and development (R&D) projects.

According to university Vice-President Kang Kejun, "Tsinghua wants to have many high-level, cutting-edge partnerships and exchange programs with the world's leading universities, research institutes and multinational companies."

International R&D cooperation is "one of Tsinghua's most important tasks", says Kang. "By doing this, we can improve the research capacity of our university and also broaden the horizons of our students."

"With principles of mutual benefit and profit sharing, we will look for international cooperation in technology. We have already achieved some fruitful results," he says.

Tsinghua began its quest for participation in international academic exchanges in the late 1970s. In the early years, it was just exchange of information when it sent its scholars to study abroad and took part in international academic conferences.

Partnerships in technology research started in early 1990s and were initially limited to small projects like calculation work, software design and testing.

In 1999, Tsinghua marked a milestone when it signed 130 international contracts with a combined value of 100 million yuan (10.45 million euros).

The international technology cooperation fund at Tsinghua has grown by an average of 18.6 percent over the last decade to reach 284 million yuan by 2010.

Tsinghua has now established research partnerships with more than 50 renowned universities including Yale, Harvard, Cambridge and Technical University of Munich.

At the same time it is continuing its efforts to strike alliances with other universities across the globe.