“This agreement is a milestone,” was NTNU Rector Torbjørn Digernes’s final assessment as he unscrewed the top of his pen before signing.
Digernes signed two agreements Wednesday morning local time to establish what are called JSF - Joint Research Centres. The agreements were the culmination of efforts begun by a number of NTNU professors, including Arne Bredesen, who in 2004 met with different Chinese universities with an eye to launch partnerships with some.
“Jao Tong is a perfect partner for us,” said an excited Bredesen just after the two university leaders had signed their own copies of the agreement.
The first agreement concerns Sustainable Energy, where Bredesen serves as director of NTNU’s strategic area. The second is for Materials Science and Technology, where NTNU Professor Hans Jørgen Roven is a leading researcher in light metals.
A joint structure
SJTU, which is the acronym for Jiao Tong University, was established as “Nan Yang College” in 1896. Since then, shipbuilding and maritime technology have been the university’s dominant fields of research. Over the years, the university has added a number of disciplines, particularly medicine, but its main focus has remained on engineering and technology, with an emphasis on marine issues. More recently, the university has expanded into energy and environmental issues.
This history has clear similarities with NTNU.
“Internally, the university has brought their overall research on energy under a common organizational umbrella. This is much the way we do it. These similarities make it easier - and more interesting - to cooperate with SJTU,” says Bredesen.
Interesting possibilities
Roven has been a guest professor at SJTU since 2007, and he shares Bredesen’s perspective.
“There are parallels in our structures that allow for interesting possibilities,” says Roven.
Kyrre Rekve, state secretary for Norwegian Minister of Research and Higher Education Tora Aasland, reminded the gathering of the minister’s visit to China in November 2008, when an overall agreement between the two countries was signed on science and technology.
“At that time we said that we had to follow up on energy and materials. That makes it particularly satisfying to sit here today,” said Rekve.
Full of praise
Both agreements signed Wednesday reference global environmental problems and energy consumption and demand.
The JSF contract on Energy points out that China is the world's largest energy consumer, even though consumption per capita is still low. This giant nation has pledged to reduce its CO2 emissions by 40-45 percent by 2020 compared to 2005 levels. If this is to actually happen, it will require a staggering amount of new technology, along with the ability to put the new measures into practice.
Professors Bredesen and Roven were full of praise about the ability of the Chinese to actually implement measures - and of their competence. “There are people here who are extremely intelligent and who have ideas for new technological solutions that do not resemble anything we've ever seen,” says Roven.
Love your country
Today’s China is so enormous, it defies comprehension. The agreement was signed at a campus that is China’s, and therefore probably the world’s, largest. Roven says he walked around it once. The walk took three hours. There are 38,000 students here.
The SJTU energy and environment research area alone employs 150 professors and 2500 students, of which 500 are PhD candidates.
“When you drink water, never shall you forget its source: Love your motherland and bring honor to your alma mater.”
This is SJTU’s motto. References to patriotism and national interests are omnipresent, and universities have a director who is politically appointed, in addition to their academic leadership. The fact that the connection between technological developments and environmental problems is so clearly expressed in the texts of the agreements is taken as a positive sign in this respect. Here, NTNU’s goal is to be an important partner.
Nordic countries a substantial presence
In addition to several JSF agreements, the NTNU delegation is planning to sign a number of less-binding letters of intent, called Memorandum of Understanding. Along with the core areas of material and energy, medicine, social sciences, and building / architecture are strongly represented in the agreements.
The Nordic universities are an increasingly important presence in China. A physical expression of this was evident when the Nordic Centre at Fudan University in Shanghai opened a flashy new building. Rectors from all the Nordic nations attended the opening, including NTNU’s own Torbjørn Digernes and Ole Petter Ottersen, rector of the University of Oslo.
