Bauhaus-Universität Weimar delegation visits key partner university in China
On 11 March 2016, a high-ranking four-person delegation from the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar wrapped up its visit to Tongji University, a long-time partner institution. The overarching goal of the visit was to expand the scope and depth of the good cooperation between the two universities.
Since the end of the 1990s, the two institutions have been collaborating and have expanded their cooperation continuously. Since 2013, the partnership has received funding from the DAAD »Strategic Partnerships« project.
One of the focal points of the multi-day visit, undertaken by Prof. Karl Beucke, President of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Prof. Bernd Rudolf, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, Prof. Horst‐Michael Ludwig, Director of the F.A. Finger Institute of Building Materials Science, and Dr. Christian Kästner, Head of the International Relations Office, was to strengthen cooperation in the field of civil engineering. Working meetings at the College of Civil Engineering and School of Material Science and Engineering (Mark on the visit. The delegation made another important stop at the College of Architecture and Urban Planning (CAUP). Discussions regarding the 100-year Bauhaus jubilee festivities in 2019 was another item on the agenda.
Prof. Beucke characterised the dual-degree »Advanced Urbanism« program, now in existence for nearly 12 years, as one of the main points of cooperation contributing to the expansion of the university's collaboration with one of the world's best research universities: »Tongji University has an interest in the capability for renewal and interdisciplinary collaboration in traditional disciplines, such as architecture and civil engineering, which are integral parts of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar concept. From this visit, we hope to bring impulses back to the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar that will enable still more forms of collaboration with Tongji University based on an even broader range of disciplines.«
At a meeting the President of Tongji University, Prof. Gang Pei, underscored the significance of the collaboration with the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar and was visibly impressed with the success of the dual-degree programme. He made a concrete suggestion for the universities to consider establishing a student exchange and dual-degree programmethiss in the field of civil engineering, a discipline in which the two institutions already have very strong research ties.
In addition to the official meeting, a campus tour and an evening meal offered plenty of opportunities for discussion. Additional exchanges between the two universities are scheduled for this year. For instance, the CAUP has once again invited a student team from the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar to participate in it's annual »International Cardboard Festival« in June 2016. In August instructors and students from Shanghai will travel to Weimar for the Bauhaus Summer School .
