Gao Liang, Vice President of Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), led a delegation to Italy, Germany, and France from June 14 to 21 to participate in the 2026 Europe-China Technical University Presidents Dialogue Forum, and visit European partner universities and international organizations.

The forum was held on June 15, at Polytechnic University of Turin in Italy, with a video address delivered by China's Minister of Education Huai Jinpeng. Gao Liang presented a report, introducing HUST as one of the first universities in China to establish a National Graduate College for Excellent Engineers. He highlighted the university's efforts and practices in collaborative education through partnerships between universities, local governments, and enterprises. He proposed using the International Education and Scientific Innovation Campus (Junshan Campus) to collaborate with European universities in creating joint laboratories and engineering education platforms focusing on clean energy, life sciences, and intelligent driving.

On June 16, during the 14th Sino-European Engineering Education Platform (SEEEP) Workshop, Luo Xiaobing, Dean of the China-EU Institute of Clean and Renewable Energy, and Yang Yong, Deputy Dean of the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, delivered specialized reports at two parallel forums focused on renewable energy and nuclear energy respectively.

During the visit to Polytechnic University of Turin, Gao Liang met with Vice Rector Alberto Sapora and his team. The two sides agreed to expand cooperation in cutting-edge fields such as renewable energy, energy storage technology, nuclear fusion energy, and materials science. They also plan to launch joint initiatives, including joint master's degree programs, summer schools, and university-industry collaborative training projects.

At Technische Universitat Berlin, Gao Liang met with Vice President Timo Hartmann and his delegation. Both sides discussed plans to deepen cooperation in AI and digital engineering, as well as to expand the scale of faculty and student exchanges.

At the headquarters of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), Gao Liang met with Deputy Director-General Yutaka Kamada and his team. Gao Liang shared HUST's research and innovative achievements in the field of nuclear fusion over the past three decades. Both parties agreed to collaborate on plasma intelligent control through scholar exchanges, student internships, postdoctoral training collaboration, and the sharing of research facilities, and technological achievements, and talent resources.

During the visit, HUST delegation also met with Liu Lixin, Minister-Counselor of the Educational Office of the Chinese Embassy in Germany, and his team. Additionally, the delegation visited alumni from the university who are currently working at the ITER in Marseille, France.