I’ve been in Tianjin University (TJU) for two years already. I think the most impressive improvement in TJU so far is infrastructure. The new campus is just amazing and beautiful, all the students are so happy here. And in the case of the old campus, some of the buildings have been renovated and the university is making everyone feel welcome. That is the most obvious change. There have also been other changes, for example, the quality of students. Every year we get better students, the kids are smarter, and they are very hardworking. You can see how it’s improving every year.  

The thing that impressed me is the amount of resources that TJU has put into research. They are very interested in scholarly research, getting the best people they can here and giving them all the things they need in order to achieve international standards. This is especially true in the School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology (SPST) that is led by Party Secretary Feng Cuiling. It’s very impressive the way that she has led us all work in a big team to promote the university higher and get closer to high standards. We have very good classes, very good students, and very good research teams. It’s just something that I have never seen in any other country that I have worked in.   

I really like this congress, because it is very important to have a meeting that summarizes the progresses we have made for the past five years, and also points out the direction for the next five years. I think that is the best part about this congress. And also, the metrics that we are presenting about how to get better students. You can see that. How have you improved in Nature ranking from 2008 to 2010? That is just impressive. It’s such a short time in which TJU has achieved so much, and the congress is a great opportunity for international faculty members and students to know about policies of TJU, as well as get better understanding of this beautiful and powerful university. Hopefully in the following years we can see the dream come true to become one of the world-class universities. It will be amazing to fulfill the dream of ranking in top 100 in 2045.  

By: Meng Xianjun

Editors: Qin Mian, Keith Harrington and Liu Yuan