Universities Must Evolve to Stay Innovative, Says Tsinghua President
The 9th Ambassador Burton Levin Lecture Series
HONG KONG, 14th December, 2015 - In the era of innovation, societal evolution and technological advancement have occured in an unprecedented pace and extent. Universities, being the central institution in the preservation and deliverance of knowledge, must break away from conventions and traditions in times of change. Professor Qiu Yong, the recently appointed President of Tsinghua University, who has a strong background in scientific inventions went on stage, to share with his alumnis and many others who have interests in education, his views on the issue.
To give a short summary, Professor Qiu believed that innovation relies, to a very large extent, on the support of universities. He pointed out that universities in the era of innovation should adapt to changes. As a chemist that can apply knowledge of other science subjects flexibly on his research, he is a great supporter to inter-disciplinary cooperations. In addition, he promotes reaching out to graduates and enterprises to link innovation closer to entrepreneurship. Since 21st century is also the age of globalization, he too emphasised the importance of expanding further to a global scale of cooperation, to pool as much capital and human resources as possible. All these new forms of collaborations, as suggested by Professor Qiu will help universities to accomodate or even create more innovation.
Video: Watch the complete program (1 hr., 18 min.)