A new stage of international dialogue: Tsinghua University students visited SPbPU

Polytechnic University hosted a delegation from one of the most prestigious universities in the world — Tsinghua University (China), in particular, Weixian College. Cooperation between the universities dates back to the 1950s, with the arrival of the first Chinese specialists to study in Leningrad. A landmark event was the signing in 1987 of one of the first partnership agreements between universities of the USSR and China — Leningrad Polytechnic Institute and Tsinghua University. The close cooperation of research teams and the consistent support of management in the implementation of numerous joint projects played a key role in the development of both universities as leading national centers of education and science.

The delegation’s visit began with a tour of the SPbPU History Museum and a visit to the Polytechnic Supercomputer Center. The guests got acquainted with the advanced computing resources and research infrastructure of the university. The main event of the day was a meeting with Russian students. The participants presented their universities and shared the national and cultural peculiarities of their countries. Chinese students also talked about the education system of China.

Tsinghua representatives spoke in detail about the philosophy of Weixian College, whose name translates as «Being the first» and reflects its mission to train technological leaders capable of defining the future at the junction of various disciplines. They explained that the college is built on the principles of interdisciplinarity: students enter without choosing a specific specialty and can already choose between areas of study such as integrated electronics, materials science, biomedical engineering and instrumentation. This approach allows you to better understand your research interests and make the choice of a future specialty more consciously.

The meeting was held in the format of a lively dialogue: students were interested in the details of admission, the balance between theory and practice, cultural peculiarities, as well as the prospects for joint projects.

The guests from Tsinghua University also expressed great interest in participating in summer and winter school programs and internships implemented by SPbPU.

Following the visit, Olga Yemelyanova, head of the Department of International Educational Programs and Academic Mobility, noted: Our universities adhere to similar principles in education: combining fundamental theoretical training with the strongest practical and project activities, focusing on the education of socially responsible engineers and leaders. The ‘learn through research’ approach and the focus on interdisciplinarity demonstrated by Weixian College find a direct response in the educational initiatives and design laboratories of Polytechnic University.

The meeting at SPbPU was another important step in the development of academic and youth ties between the two leading technical universities in Russia and China, opening up new opportunities for cooperation in the field of innovative education and research.