Tsinghua has summit in its sights

To provide students with an international environment, the university has built up bases around the world. For instance, the Global Innovation Exchange Institute, a Bellevue-based school that aims to serve as a global development technology platform, was co-founded in 2015 by Tsinghua University, the University of Washington in Seattle and Microsoft Corp.

In October 2018, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Tsinghua Southeast Asia Center (Tsinghua SEA), an organization that focuses on non-degree education and cultural exchange, took place on Kura Kura Island in Bali, Indonesia. Two months later, the Tsinghua University Latin America Center was inaugurated in Santiago, Chile.

All of these efforts will promote the implementation of the university's global strategy and forge students' global mindset, says university president Qiu Yong.

Last year, the COVID-19 pandemic affected the smooth running of Tsinghua students' exchange programs and social practices in foreign countries.

Qiu says that in a post-pandemic era, the university plans to apply online tools to help create an international atmosphere to hone students' global competence.

For example, in July 2020, the university launched its first online global summer school, gathering more than 1,000 students from 154 universities in 79 countries and regions to discuss culture and development.

As the new semester began in February, the Global Hybrid Classroom program was initiated by the university to enable its students to share online classes with their counterparts at other world-class universities.

Qiu says that the university will keep implementing its global strategy and deepen collaboration with partner universities and the institutions to offer students a diverse, colorful study experience in international environments.

While looking to the future, Tsinghua's faculty still remembers to keep both feet on the ground.