Nankai University (NKU)
Text
Foreign physicist finds motivation in missionary of 1700s
By China Daily | China Daily | Updated: 2018-08-13 09:52 Slovenian physicist Rudolf Podgornik said he had some initial doubts about his decision to take a position in China when he first arrived in Beijing in November. "When I was growing up, we didn't hear much about China," he said. "The first time I remember hearing about China was an interview of Zhou Enlai I saw on television years ago. Everybody was around Zhou, and one question I remember was, 'What do you think of the French Revolution, which took place in the 1790s?' "Zhou thought for a while and replied by saying that it was too early to say." The 63-year-old physicist could not help but beam when he recalled the exchange. "What a great answer," he said. When Podgornik visited Nankai University in Tianjin in January, he seized on the opportunity to take a picture with a statue of Zhou Enlai on campus. Podgornik also likes to read books on Chinese philosophy by Zhuangzi and Laozi to form a basic understanding of the country's culture and the way the people think. For most of his professional life, Podgornik taught and conducted research in Slovenia's capital, Ljubljana, as well as in the United States, specializing in soft matter and biophysics. "One of my Chinese doctoral students in the United States introduced China's Thousand Talents Plan to me when I was a few years from retirement," he said. "I thought it would be interesting to do something different through this program." In April, Podgornik was officially recruited as a foreign expert to work at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. He now leads a laboratory manned by a small group of PhD students at the university's School of Physical Sciences. As the only foreigner at the school, Podgornik said he found it difficult at the beginning to adapt to a different environment. "I think Chinese culture puts a lot of weight on a professor's authority. There is a big gap between professors and students, and students tend to follow educators without question," he said. When Podgornik occasionally encounters culture differences like these, a famous compatriot from ages past motivates him to keep moving forward. "I was born in the same town as Ferdinand Hallerstein, a foreign missionary to China who worked for the Chinese government for more than 30 years," he said. The missionary - known as Liu Songling in China - was born in Ljubljana, and traveled to China in the 18th century during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). In addition to his religious duties, Hallerstein was appointed head of the astronomical observatory, and oversaw the creation of an armillary sphere with rotating rings that is still on display in the Beijing Ancient Observatory. Podgornik said he also hopes to bring something new to China with his rich knowledge in the world of physics. "I hope that I can contribute to the development of science in China," he said. "My dream would be to establish biophysics as a separate subject at the university." Biophysics is the application of physical principles to the study of viruses, and Podgornik said he feels that China is not strong in this field right now. "I want to be part of the force that makes China stronger in science," he said. As his initial skepticism has gradually faded away, Podgornik is settling down in Beijing. He has bought an electric bike, and delights in riding it about town. "I am satisfied with everything so far, and I am excited to expand my work and enjoy my new adventure in China," he said. Wang Xiaoyu contributed to this story.
Introduction to Nankai University (NKU)
Nankai is a key multidisciplinary university with a complete curriculum that includes the humanities, natural sciences, technology, life sciences, medical sciences and the arts. Founded in 1919, Nankai University is one of China’s most prestigious and is a member of the 985 and 211 groups of universities. With approximately 24,000 students, (and almost 3,000 international students) you will have the opportunity to live and learn on the university campus, where you will benefit from a range of cultural and social activities organised by our student services team. About Nankai University Nankai University was established as a private university in 1919 and began teaching using a mixture of Chinese and western methods. The university excelled in sciences initially, and became one of the most famous private universities in China as it developed through the 1920-30s. Among its first intake was the first Premier of the People’s Republic of China, Zhou Enlai, whose statue you can see at the South Gate near to the Yiyuan accommodation building. The university is now ranked in the top 10 public universities in China, with its mathematics, chemistry, history and business/economics programmes rated as some of the best in China. The student population is around 23,000, of which 10,000 are studying post-graduate courses, and around 10% are international students. About Tianjin Tianjin is just 30 minutes by high speed train from Beijing and is China’s sixth largest city, with 16% annual economic growth – the fastest for any region in the country. Home to more foreign businesses than Shanghai, Tianjin also boasts the only Airbus manufacturing plant outside Europe. 285 Fortune 500 companies have a presence here – including LG, Samsung, Toyota and Coca-Cola. Tianjin has a higher GDP per capita than both Beijing and Shanghai and five-star hotels are opening on a monthly basis and recent additions include the Ritz-Carlton and Banyan Tree. Tianjin also hosts a number of international festivals, including the annual dragon boat festival and the international beer festival. The international airport has flights to Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul and major Chinese cities. University Library Services As part of your orientation programme, you will be shown how to use the libraries and locate key resources. Nankai has four main libraries and a number of resource centres across its campuses. The university library collection totals 3,822,000 volumes and 30 terrabytes of e-books. There are a number of special collections and reference books to meet both academic and research needs and a book circulation service allows students to access the titles they need for a prebooked duration – minimising the number of textbooks students need to buy. There are a range of online and digital resource centres specialising in different disciplines and quiet spaces set aside for private and group study. Multipurpose‘Smart’Campus Card On arrival, you will be issued with a multi purpose smart card. This will not only act as your student ID, but also doubles up as an access swipe card for libraries and teaching buildings, a top-up credit card for campus canteens and supermarkets, which can also be used for city transport (buses, subways and taxis). Computer Facilities When you arrive at the university you will be given an internet account which allows you access to over 100 library computers and the campus wifi. Each school has a dedicated IT suite, which is available to students from Monday to Friday. There are wireless hotspots across the campus, including wifi zones in a number of the university’s cafés and bars – all offering free wifi for students. Sports Facilities Nankai University has an olympic-size swimming pool and a well-equipped outdoor stadium and running track, as well as a range of soccer and basketball courts. There are over 100 tennis, table tennis and badminton courts for students to access. You will also find the university has sports clubs to most tastes –including of course, high quality Kung-Fu and Tai Chi clubs.
Tianjin betting on industrial restructuring for GDP growth
By Yang Cheng in Tianjin | China Daily | Updated: 2018-08-01 09:29 Tianjin will give top priority to industrial restructuring as part of the ongoing efforts by the northern port city to sustain annual GDP growth. Tianjin's renewed focus came after its GDP growth fell to 3.6 percent last year from double-digit growth in the preceding years. During the first six months of this year, the city's GDP edged up by 1.5 percentage points compared with the first quarter, growing 3.4 percent to reach 992.7 billion yuan ($145.7 billion), showing signs of a slight recovery. Decluttering Beijing's industries and trying to transfer competitive sectors including intelligent sectors, part of the efforts to implement the synergic development strategy for Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province, is now a key effort to restructure Tianjin's industrial layout. The effort is expected to pay off to help reverse Tianjin's downward GDP and the city revealed an ambitious target to build itself into an "intelligent coastal port", said Sun Hujun, deputy head of Tianjin Municipal Development and Reform Commission. A prime example is the Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Area (TEDA), which has attracted 238 Beijing companies during the first half with contractual investment value of up to 74.2 billion yuan. According to Zheng Weiming, director of the administrative committee of TEDA, the area is highly "selective" in its industrial transfer campaign as it wants to ensure quality GDP growth. As a result, most of the firms in the area are from central State-owned companies, and also include emerging intelligence projects from JD and Baidu. Zheng, however, admitted that, despite the selective approach, the area logged the highest GDP growth in the city of 7.3 percent. Liu Gang, director of Economic Research Institute at Nankai University in Tianjin, indicated that the city s' previous economy was highly dependent on investment and heavy industries. But it needs to move on to a new path driven by smart technology upgrading, he added. "China has strong demand to boost intelligent industries and Tianjin can cater to the demand by helping move industries from Beijing," he said. To this end, the city unveiled a package of polices in mid-June, ranging from enterprises' smart upgrading, cutting-edge internet transformation, as well as development in robotics, integrated circuit, software, information services to big data sectors. Each relevant project could hit up to 50 million yuan and there are no limits for eligible companies to seek funding.
Knowledge Graph
Examples
1 Nankai also offers several scholarship programs to support international exchanges and hosts different international student exchange programs.
2 Nankai also offers several scholarship programs to support international exchanges and hosts different international student exchange programs.
3 Nankai university encompasses three campuses.
4 Nankai, in 2013, had 22 colleges and schools, and offered 79 bachelor's degree programs, 231 master's degree programs, and 172 Ph.D. programs.
5 Nankai also offers several scholarship programs to support international exchanges and hosts different international student exchange programs.
6 Nankai, in 2013, had 22 colleges and schools, and offered 79 bachelor's degree programs, 231 master's degree programs, and 172 Ph.D. programs.
7 Nankai university encompasses three campuses.
8 Nankai university encompasses three campuses.
9 Nankai, in 2013, had 22 colleges and schools, and offered 79 bachelor's degree programs, 231 master's degree programs, and 172 Ph.D. programs.
10 Nankai university encompasses three campuses.
11 Nankai university encompasses three campuses.
12 Nankai also offers several scholarship programs to support international exchanges and hosts different international student exchange programs.
13 Nankai, in 2013, had 22 colleges and schools, and offered 79 bachelor's degree programs, 231 master's degree programs, and 172 Ph.D. programs.
14 Nankai, in 2013, had 22 colleges and schools, and offered 79 bachelor's degree programs, 231 master's degree programs, and 172 Ph.D. programs.
15 Nankai also offers several scholarship programs to support international exchanges and hosts different international student exchange programs.