French Consul for Science at Shanghai Visit the School

French Consul for Science at Shanghai Visit the School

On April 10, 2014, a delegation of three led by French consul for science at Shanghai Prof. Frederic Bretar visited the School and the State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology at Tongji University. Vice dean of the School and director of the Laboratory Prof. Liu Zhifei held a meeting with the guests introducing our research and education cooperation with France. Prof. Liu Chuanlian, Dr. Jin Haiyan and Joussain Ronan, a French student who is now pursuing his doctorate in our School also attended the meeting.

Prof. Liu first presented a brief introduction of the development of our School and the State Key Laboratory, and reviewed our 16 years of cooperation with France in carrying out scientific researches and educational training, which all bear fruitful achievements: the two sides collaborated in quite a lot of important research projects, and had very frequent academic exchanges; joint scientific expeditions were held including the MARCO POLO cruise in 2005, the MONOCIR cruise in 2010 and the CIRCEA cruise in 2012; a Sino-French international collaborative laboratory (known as LIA MONOCL) was established in 2012. For talent cultivation, the School not only provides Chinese students with opportunities to further their PhD studies or post doctorate researches in France, but also accepts several French students to China for their degree or non-degree study, stimulating a deeper and more substantive cooperation between the two sides.

Prof. Bretar extended his appreciation for the Laboratory’s continuous efforts in boosting bilateral cooperation and the achievements she has made, especially for the fact that a Chinese research institute could charm French students to further their studies in China, and provide good educational and research environment for them. In Asia, there are currently three French students who are now pursing their PhD degrees in the field of natural science, and Joussain Ronan is one of them, the fact of which also highlights our strength of research and education in marine sciences.