Berkeley, Tsinghua mark partnership’s progress

Leaders from UC Berkeley and Tsinghua University met this week to hammer out details of their partnership and take stock of progress on a joint research center and dual-degree program.

UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks and Tsinghua University President Qiu Yong (Photo by Noah Berger)

Chancellor Nicholas Dirks and Tsinghua University President Qiu Yong, along with leaders from both universities, signed documents to officially announce their progress on two efforts — the Berkeley-Tsinghua Joint Research Center on Energy and Climate Change and Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute.

The Berkeley-Tsinghua Joint Research Center on Energy and Climate Change is a three-way partnership between the Berkeley Energy and Climate Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s China Energy Group and Tsinghua University. The center will conduct research to promote understanding of China’s energy, climate change and development challenges, collaborate on clean-energy solutions and prepare new leaders in sustainable energy through training, outreach and graduate programs.

Left to right: Chancellor Dirks, Tsinghua University President Qiu Yong and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Director Mike Witherell celebrate the launch of the Berkeley-Tsinghua joint research center. (Photo by Noah Berger)

The Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute (TBSI), which was established in October 2015, will offer a new dual-degree program, designed to fuel economic growth through transdisciplinary and translational research. The program, set to begin this fall, will allow students to spend 2.5 years pursuing a master’s degree in engineering at Berkeley and a master’s of science degree at Tsinghua.

Chancellor Nicholas Dirks and Tsinghua University President Qiu Yong sign the dual-degree agreement, with leaders from UC Berkeley — engineering dean S. Shankar Sastry (far right), professor Connie Chang-Hasnain (third from right) and Vice Chancellor of Research Paul Alivisatos (center) — and Tsinghua officials in attendance. (Photo by Noah Berger)

Berkeley faculty involved in TBSI include co-director Connie Chang-Hasnain, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science; S. Shankar Sastry, dean of the College of Engineering and professor of electrical engineering and computer science; and Liwei Lin, co-deputy director of TBSI and a professor of mechanical engineering.