清華大學與加拿大滑鐵盧大學簽訂合作備忘錄

近日，清華大學校長顧秉林與加拿大滑鐵盧大學校長David Johnston簽訂了兩校教育與科研合作備忘錄，此備忘錄將為兩校提供交流與合作的平台。

滑鐵盧大學是加拿大一所出色的研究型大學。它的計算機專業在加拿大排名第一，在全世界也名列前茅。此外，該校的本科教育方式也很獨特，全部採用半工半讀的方式，畢業生深受用人單位歡迎。此次達成的備忘錄旨在探討雙方在教育、培訓和研究等方面進行交流的可能性，鼓勵院系所之間的直接合作。

UW, Tsinghua University sign exchange agreement

The University of Waterloo and China's Tsinghua University have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for Educational and Scientific Cooperation.

The five-year exchange agreement will promote a close cooperation between the faculty members, departments and research institutes of both universities. It was signed recently by Tsinghua President Gu Binglin and UW President David Johnston.

The institutions will explore a number of collaborative activities, such as joint research, exchanges and teaching in various fields.

"Tsinghua is the top ranked university in China and based on a review of their academic programs would be a good fit with all our faculties," said Drew Knight, Director of International Programs in UW's Office of Research.

In a report on the signing, Chen Yanyan writes on Tsinghua's news website: "As one of Canada's leading research universities, the University of Waterloo was ranked most innovative among 47 universities in Canada in 2004, according to the national magazine Maclean's. Its School of Computer Science has been ranked first across Canada and is famous in the world."

The agreement calls for cooperation in these general areas:

* Joint research of common interest in the general fields of but not limited to the Arts, Environment, Materials and Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology and Computer Science.

* Exchange of non-confidential information including but not limited to exchange of teaching and research documentation.

* Joint academic program development and short-term training.

* Exchange of faculty members for research, workshops, seminars, lectures and discussions.

* Exchange of graduate students for research.

Tsinghua is located on several former royal gardens of the Qing Dynasty, surrounded by a few historical sites in northwest Beijing. Its garden-like landscaped campus, with the Wanquan River meandering through, has inspired and motivated generations of students.

Tsinghua University was established in 1911 originally as "Tsinghua Xuetang," a preparatory school for students who would be sent by the government to study in universities in the United States. The school was renamed "Tsinghua School" in 1912. The university section was instituted in 1925.

Although Western culture was pervasive in the early history of the university, Chinese culture was also cherished and widely studied. The faculty valued the interaction between the Chinese and Western cultures.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the university was molded into a polytechnic institution focusing on engineering in the nationwide restructuring of universities and colleges undertaken in 1952.

Tsinghua has flourished since 1978, with the re-establishment of the departments in sciences, economics and management, and the humanities. The Tsinghua graduate school has been recognized nationally, ranking first in the National ????uation of Graduate Schools. The School of Continuing Education makes good use of modern information technologies, as well as the advanced educational resources at Tsinghua.

Currently, the university consists of 44 departments in these 11 schools: sciences, architecture, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, information science and technology, humanities and social sciences, economics and management, law, arts and design, public policy and management, and applied technology.