Activities

Tsinghua University hosted the ASPIRE Forum 2014 from July 10 to 11. The forum was chaired by Professor Yuan Si, Chairperson of the ASPIRE League for 2013-2014 and Vice President of Tsinghua University. This year’s forum was composed of the ASPIRE Symposium, the Vice Presidents and Senior Staff Meeting, Student Week, and a visit to Tsinghua University Science Park and X-Lab. The theme was “The Role of New Materials Technology in New Energy R&D.” Participants from the ASPIRE League member universities exchanged ideas about activities and collaboration under the league’s framework.

The Student Week program started with a welcome gathering on July 6. Thirty-five students from the ASPIRE League member universities and one student from an IDEA League member university (RWTH Aachen) participated in site visits and visited new materials and new energy-related companies in Dezhou Economic Development Zone and Tianjin Binhai Hi-Tech Industrial Development Area between July 7 and 9. They also attended a seminar on materials at Tsinghua University School of Materials Science and Engineering on July 9.

Students attended the ASPIRE Symposium on the morning of July 10 and a student workshop took place in the afternoon. In the student workshop, students were divided into four groups and held discussions on the theme of the forum. Each group reported to the vice presidents and senior staffs on its findings and ideas on new materials and new energy R&D on the morning of July 11. At the end of the reporting session, each participating student was awarded an ASPIRE League Certificate of Participation by the members of the Board of Vice Presidents.

The ASPIRE Symposium comprised five lectures from each ASPIRE League member university and two reports on joint research projects conducted under the ASPIRE League Research Grant, supported by Tokyo Tech. Symposium speakers noted the development of new materials and new energy research and development, introduced their research fields and identified ways to further R&D. Tokyo Tech principal researchers reported on their joint research projects conducted in collaboration with researchers from the ASPIRE League member universities.

During the Vice Presidents and Senior Staff Meeting, Professor Hisakazu Mihara of the ASPIRE League Secretariat gave a report on league activities between July 2013 and July 2014, followed by reports by the members of the Board of Vice Presidents on their own activities. Various league-related topics were also discussed, including the extension of the MOU on the Implementation of the ASPIRE League and the chairperson for 2015-2016. The meeting concluded with the signing of the Agreement to Extend the MOU on the Implementation of the ASPIRE League and Addendum to the MOU.

Participants were invited to visit the Tsinghua University Science Park and X-Lab, incubators for start-ups and student entrepreneurship respectively, on the afternoon of July 11.