From June 29 to July 9, Tan Tianwei, President of Beijing University of Chemical Technology and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, led a delegation to South America and Europe, visiting four universities and one research institution in Brazil, Costa Rica and Denmark.
On the morning of July 1, the delegation visited Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) and exchanged views with Cesar Martins, Director of the President's Office of UNESP, Luiz Antonio Paulino, Director of the Confucius Institute, and some representatives of professors on the promotion of cooperation in student training and scientific research.
During the visit, the two sides held a signing ceremony for the "Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation between Beijing University of Chemical Technology (BUCT) and Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)", which is expected to promote in-depth cooperation between the two universities in co-running schools, joint student training, research cooperation etc..
On the afternoon of July 1, the delegation visited Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP) . During the visit, the delegation met with Ana Maria Frattini Fileti, Vice President of UNICAMP, and professors’ representatives from the College of Chemical Engineering, for discussions on joint student training, research cooperation, exchange of teachers and students, etc..
Following the discussion, the delegation visited the joint laboratory set up by Petrobras and the National Energy Foundation. The two sides have agreed to carry out cooperation and exchanges programs in scientific research and student training.
On the afternoon of July 3, the delegation visited Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and had in-depth discussions with representatives led by Professor Rodrigo Souza.
After the meeting, the delegation toured the labs of the Department of Chemical Engineering of UFRJ for undergraduates and key labs of some core teams at the Technology Centre where they were introduced in detail the labs operation and current progress.
On the morning of 5 July, the delegation paid a visit to the University National Costanica (UNA) and exchanged with the President of UNA, two vice presidents in charge of scientific research and international cooperation, deans of concerning colleges and professor representatives.
Following the meeting, the two sides held a signing ceremony for the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation, proposing to further strengthen cooperation in aspects such as inter-school exchanges, joint student training, scientific resources sharing, and joint application for research funds.
On the afternoon of July 5, the delegation visited the School of Chemistry of UNA. During the visit, they toured some featured labs of the School and learned more about its student training and research progress.
Later, the delegation had a discussion with representatives of college professors. Tan Tianwei gave a lecture on the latest research progress of coupled chemical-biological catalysis. Both sides expressed wishes for further cooperation in student exchange, joint training of postgraduates and scientific research in the future.
On the morning of 8 July, the delegation met with Professor Christian Brix Tillegreen from BioInnovation Institute (BII) in Copenhagen, Denmark for an in-depth conversation.
After the conversation, the delegation exchanged ideas in detail with the researchers of BII on the operation mode, research progress and characteristic effectiveness of BII since its establishment. Depending on the degree of maturity of the research results, biotech entrepreneurs from universities, hospitals, enterprises or other research institutes in and out of Denmark are able to enter into BII for incubation at various stages. The Institute will provide incubation support, including space, equipment, funding, technology, legal affairs, etc., in the four stages that cover Introduction, Transfer, Incubation and Growth. It also helps entrepreneurs to attract funding from external investors, which can greatly accelerate growth rate and increase probability of success for start-ups.
During this visit to South America and Europe, Tan Tianwei, on behalf of BUCT, invited heads and professor representatives of UNESP, UNICAMP, UFRJ to participate in the "2024 International Conference on Synthetic Biomanufacturing" to be held in Beijing and the "2025 International Conference on Biorefining and Biomanufacturing" in Chile, both hosted by Beijing University of Chemical Technology.
Accompanying the visits were Tong Yigang, Dean of the College of Life Science and Technology, Wang Weimin, Dean of the College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Zhang Xinsheng, Director of the Department of State-owned Assets, and Zhao Chun, Director of the Department of Finance.