Source: Office of International Cooperation & Exchange
Written by: Office of International Cooperation & Exchange
Proofread by: Guo Lianlian
Edited by: Wang Dongmei

On the afternoon of June 7, 2016, Prof. Ma Jun, Vice President of Sun Yat-sen University, attended the China-US Universities Astronomy Collaboration Summit in Beijing. The Summit, with the theme “Our Universe, a World without Boundaries”, was co-organized by the Chinese Scholarship Council, Peking University, University of California, Santa Barbara and University of California, Santa Cruz.

Prof. Ma Jun made a speech on Multi-mode Collaborations between China and US Universities. He briefly introduced SYSU and its long history in astronomical researches. Early in 1927, the University had founded the first Department of Astronomy in China. In 2013, the Institute of Astronomy and Space Science (IASS) was established. In 2015, on the basis of IASS, the School of Physics and Astronomy (SPA) was founded. The school has initiated several ambitious researches in astronomy and related fields, including cosmology, the applications of cosmological simulations, and high-energy astrophysics. SYSU has great advantages in conducting astronomical simulations as the Tianhe-2 supercomputer is located in the University’s Guangzhou East Campus. Prof. Ma Jun said that SYSU is looking for international collaborations on gravitational wave detection and cosmological simulations, and will fully support the exchange programs for scholars and students between Chinese and American universities in order to train talents in astronomical observation and theoretical research.

Representatives from nearly 20 universities including Tsinghua University, Peking University, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Sun Yat-sen University, Beijing Normal University, Nanjing University, Xiamen University, Shandong University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, The University of Hong Kong, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, George Washington University, California Institute of Technology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, attended the Summit. The participants held discussions on “Multi-mode Collaborations between China and US Universities”, "Collaborations between Universities and National Institutes/Publics”, and “Thirty-Meter Telescope: A Golden Opportunity for China-US Collaboration”.

During the Summit, Liu Jinghui, Secretary-General of China Scholarship Council, Henry Yang, Chancellor of UC Santa Barbara, and Robert Bley-Vroman, Chancellor of University of Hawaii at Manoa, signed the Memorandum of Understanding on China-U.S. Astronomy Exchange Program which is designed to promote research exchanges in astronomy between Chinese and American universities.

Prof. Lin Weipeng, Assistant Dean of SYSU’s School of Physics and Astronomy, was also present at the Summit.

This Summit is one of the series of educational exchange activities of the Seventh Round of China-US High-Level Consultation on the People-to-People Exchange with the aim to enhance cooperation in astronomy. On June 6, 2016, President Xi Jinping attended the joint opening ceremony of the eighth round of China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) and the seventh round of China-US High-Level Consultation on People-to-People Exchange (CPE), and delivered an important speech. President Barack Obama of the US sent a written address to the eighth round of S&ED and the seventh round of CPE. On the morning of June 7, Vice Premier Liu Yandong and Secretary of State John Kerry co-chaired the seventh round of CPE.