On January 16, HUST and Heidelberg University held an online annual cooperative meeting, which reviewed the important bilateral achievements of the past two years and explored the paths and directions for deeper cooperation in the future.

Chen Jianguo, Vice President (VP) of HUST and Chair of the College Committee of Tongji Medical College (TJMC), and Marc-Philippe Weller, VP of Heidelberg University, attended the meeting, along with the heads of the Offices of International Affairs (OIA), medical schools and affiliated hospitals of the two universities.

Prof. Michael Kirschfink, the Heidelberg-Tongji (HUST) University Partnership Representative, presented in his opening speech that although the epidemic in the past three years has caused a temporary suspension of certain collaborations, programs such as student exchanges and scholarships will be restarted this year as the global order gradually returns to normal. During more than 40 years of cooperation, the two universities have maintained close contact in scientific research, academic exchanges and personnel training. Up to now, more than 150 scholars from TJMC have been to Heidelberg University for advanced studies, and over 600 lecturers and professors have received training in the "Sino-German TongjiMed Workshop". In recent years, the “Sino-German Laboratory of Personalized Medicine for Pancreatic Cancer” established by the two sides has become another important milestone in scientific cooperation, and the newly approved "Innovative High-Level Training Project in Clinical Medicine" will also provide new impetus for the talent training of both universities. He also expressed his hope to continue to enhance communication between scholars and cooperation in scientific research so as to consolidate the friendship between China and Germany.

In his welcome speech, Prof. Hans-Georg Kräusslich, Dean of Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University, said that the two universities had established an impressively solid cooperation foundation over the years and hoped that this fruitful collaboration would continue in the future. He stated that the two universities will resume student exchanges as early as possible and continue to promote the bilateral development of medical education and research with their leading advantages. He also looked forward to an early face-to-face communication to open a new chapter of cooperation.

In the end of the first session, Chen Jie, HUST’s Director of OIA, reviewed the inspiring cooperative achievements between both universities in the past two years and introduced the work plans for 2023.

2022 is an important year for HUST as it not only celebrated its 70th anniversary, but also took the lead in the establishment of the "Sino-German Medical Education Alliance". At the same time, the " Innovative High-Level Training Project in Clinical Medicine " between Heidelberg University and Affiliated Union Hospital(AUH) of HUST has been approved by CSC "2023 International Cooperation Training Program for Innovative Talents", which will provide vital support for the training of clinical medical students in the next three years. In addition, the participation of Prof. Nina Jude from Heidelberg University in the 2022 Annual International Forum on Higher Education held by HUST marked the cooperation between the two universities expanded from medicine to more disciplines.

Chen Jianguo and Marc-Philippe Weller made a concluding speech and put forward specific suggestions on the future cooperation.

Chen Jianguo emphasized that HUST will not only strengthen the exchange with Heidelberg University in terms of teacher training, but also pursue the opportunity to jointly train future-oriented, high-level and innovative medical professionals on the basis of our 60-year-old Sino-German Medicine Class, as well as the establishment of Junshan International Campus of HUST.

Founded in 1386, Heidelberg University (Ruprecht-Karls- Universiät Heidelberg) is the oldest university in Germany and one of Europe’s leading research institutions.  It offers a full range of subjects and disciplines. It aims to continue to improve its disciplinary competitiveness, further carry out cross-disciplinary cooperation, and put research findings into social and public fields.

Written by: Gong Jiarui

Edited by: Lei Yujie, Peng Yumeng