Tohoku University (TU) in Japan recently celebrated its 115th anniversary. During its commemoration ceremony, TU announced the list of winners of awards to be presented to alumni and alumni associations.

Amongst them, Qikun XUE, President of the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), was announced as a recipient of the Tohoku University International Award. The award recognizes President XUE’s contribution in promoting cooperation in higher education worldwide.

“It is a great honor to receive this award. I am delighted that over the years, I have witnessed and been part of the development of Tohoku University, and now in my position, seeing our Chinese alumni community expanding and growing,” noted President XUE in his acceptance speech.

As the Chair of the Chinese Alumni Association of TU, President XUE added that the Association would continue to promote interactions and exchanges among the Chinese alumni members, thus strengthening ties to TU.

“This award motivates me to further exchanges between Chinese alumni groups and TU for more fruitful academic outcomes, especially in enhancing mutual understanding and deepening the friendship between the young people both in China and Japan,” said XUE.

At the end of his speech, President XUE invited more like-minded people to join the cause of international cooperation in education and research for a world that is more sustainable, peaceful, and prosperous.

Located in Sendai city, Tohoku University was founded in 1907. It is a large-scale comprehensive national university covering a variety of disciplines such as arts and letters, science, engineering, medicine, and agriculture. Buqing SU, the founder of differential geometry in China, and Xun LU, a leading figure of modern Chinese literature, are alumni of TU.

President Qikun XUE studied and worked at the Tohoku University Institute for Materials Research, from June 1992 to March 2000. Since 2013, he has served as the President of the Chinese Alumni Association of TU.

In recent years, he has promoted exchanges and cooperation between Chinese universities and TU. In July 2021, he led a seminar jointly held by the Department of Physics at SUSTech and Institute for Materials Research at TU. Academics from both sides conducted in-depth exchanges on cutting-edge work in the fields of surface physics, topological physics, superconductivity, and new energy materials.

In his previous role as Vice President of Tsinghua University (THU), Qikun XUE led a delegation from THU to visit TU in 2018. During the visit, a university-level cooperation and student exchange agreement was signed, and they also held a joint academic seminar.

By Adrian Cremin

Proofread ByYingying XIA