Our Rector's Visit to Strengthen Impact-Oriented Collaboration Between ITU and Tsinghua in Strategic Areas

The visit of ITU Rector Prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal to Tsinghua University featured comprehensive discussions aimed at transforming the collaboration between the two universities—ongoing since 2012—into impact-oriented and concrete partnerships, and advancing it further in areas of critical importance.

On September 8, 2025, Prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal, Rector of Istanbul Technical University (ITU), paid a visit to Tsinghua University. Meeting with Prof. Dr. Yang Bin, Vice President of Tsinghua University and responsible for international collaborations, and the accompanying delegation, Prof. Dr. Mandal recalled his time at Tsinghua University as a young researcher 25 years ago. He expressed his pleasure at revisiting Tsinghua as ITU’s Rector and at laying the foundations for new impact-oriented collaborations.

Prof. Dr. Mandal stated that ITU is deepening its collaboration with Tsinghua University in strategic areas that will shape the future of the world, particularly clean energy, artificial intelligence, and sustainability. He emphasized their goal of generating global impact through thematic summer schools, joint PhD supervision, collaborative laboratory work, and research projects.

Our Rector expressed his belief that the combined knowledge and research capacity of the two universities will play a critical role in addressing global challenges and will provide a strong foundation for strategically valuable projects between China and Türkiye. He underlined that, as ITU, they are strengthening their internationalization vision through strategic partnerships with leading universities around the world, and that they continue to offer students and researchers broader global opportunities by embracing a model of shared responsibility, impact-oriented collaboration, and co-creation.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between ITU and Tsinghua University in 2012 laid the groundwork for an academic partnership across all engineering disciplines. The agreement covers undergraduate and graduate student exchanges, academic staff and researcher exchanges, joint research and publications, collaboration in conferences, symposia, and workshops, as well as the sharing of knowledge and publications.