清华大学与加拿大滑铁卢大学签订合作备忘录

近日，清华大学校长顾秉林与加拿大滑铁卢大学校长David Johnston签订了两校教育与科研合作备忘录，此备忘录将为两校提供交流与合作的平台。

滑铁卢大学是加拿大一所出色的研究型大学。它的计算机专业在加拿大排名第一，在全世界也名列前茅。此外，该校的本科教育方式也很独特，全部采用半工半读的方式，毕业生深受用人单位欢迎。此次达成的备忘录旨在探讨双方在教育、培训和研究等方面进行交流的可能性，鼓励院系所之间的直接合作。

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.