Tianjin University strives forward with internationalization efforts

Recent partnerships include institutes, entities from Southeast Asia and United States

Internationalization has been an integral part of Tianjin University since it was founded in 1895 and it has made great strides in that direction during the past five years.

The university has established partnerships with more than 240 higher-learning institutions, research institutes, companies and embassies from 50 countries and regions.

The university has seen a steady growth in its international influence by attracting more of the world's high-profile professionals and international students.

Globally excellent professionals have been invited by the university to help its disciplinary development and scientific innovation. Tianjin University has awarded the title of honorary professor to 127 foreign nationals, including eight Nobel Prize laureates, 46 academicians and four politicians.

The university signed agreements with Fujian Education Department, the Fuzhou city government and National University of Singapore in December 2018. They would jointly build the Tianjin University-National University of Singapore Joint Institute in Fuzhou. Preparation for the school proceeds smoothly with its construction plan approved by the local government.

The ASEAN-China Network for Cooperation and Exchanges among Engineering and Technology Universities, founded by an alliance of nine domestically excellent universities, including Tianjin University, and eight ASEAN universities, became more internationally influential during the past six years. The number of ASEAN member universities has increased from eight in four countries to 12 in six countries.

Based on the network, Tianjin University developed an educational center to train maritime professionals for China and ASEAN member countries in recent years. Called the China-ASEAN Smart Ocean Center, it offers an innovative teaching system. Through the center, Tianjin University has established partnerships with a number of Indonesian universities and colleges, launching cooperative programs to train Indonesian college teachers and students in subjects such as ocean cognition, advanced maritime technology and practice in marine organizations, in the forms of mutual visits, exchange of teachers and students, workshops and international symposiums.

The university has hosted and organized 153 international conferences, inviting more than 16,000 domestic and foreign guests since 2016. The events have greatly enhanced the school's influence in international academic circles.

Under the framework of the US-China Clean Energy Research Center, a Chinese team led by Tianjin University has co-founded a truck energy efficiency consortium with the US research team CERC-TRUCK. The consortium aims to promote the development of high-efficiency engines and trucks and their applications in the two countries' markets to reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The team's recent project is a joint research program on key technologies to increase energy efficiency of medium and heavy-duty trucks, which involves a total funding of 98.5 million yuan ($14.44 million).

In March, Tianjin University's cooperative project with Georgia Institute of Technology in the US－to build a joint school in Shenzhen－was approved by the Chinese Ministry of Education. Capitalizing on its resources of Tianjin University and GIT and leveraging its geographical advantage of neighboring Hong Kong and Macao, the school is expected to offer strong intelligent support for the development of Shenzhen as well as the entire Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

The university is a major school in Tianjin serving the global promotion of the Chinese language.

The number of international students in the university has gradually increased in the past five years and it has made more efforts to enroll students from countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

The university has trained more than 30,000 foreign students from 150-plus countries and regions since it began recruiting international students in 1954.

It has launched several programs taught completely in English for undergraduate, masters and PhD degrees, while setting up a Chinese-language program intended for foreign undergraduates in 2001.

A psychological counseling organization targeting foreign students was set up by the university in 2009 to introduce sandplay therapy. The school was evaluated as a demonstration center in Tianjin for foreign students studying in China in 2017.

The university received 4,391 foreign students from 139 countries and regions last year, including 813 for master's and PhD degrees. It organized the students to participate in more than 30 cultural activities and supported them to join in different social events.

Schools and departments of the university have their own characteristics in internationalization. The School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology at Tianjin University, for instance, has reformed on internationalization involving management, human resources, teaching and scientific research since 2014. It has attracted 33 overseas scholars from 16 countries and foreign teachers account for 43 percent of its faculty.

songmengxing@chinadaily.com.cn