The University of Science and Technology of China visits Politecnico di Torino
Politecnico di Torino has further strengthened its ties with China by signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), a prestigious university based in Hefei, Anhui Province, ranked among the best in the world according to international rankings.
The Chinese delegation, led by Professor Gequn Shu, Chairman of the University Council of USTC, and accompanied by Professor Francesco Porcelli from the Department of Applied Science and Technology-DISAT of Politecnico, currently a visiting professor at USTC, was welcomed on December 16 by Rector Stefano Corgnati, Vice Rector for Internationalization Alberto Sapora, and Marco Sangermano, Director of the Center for Studies on international mobility for students and faculty.
Key figures from the Politecnico's academic and research community also attended the meeting: Professor Debora Fino and Professor Francesco Laviano from the Department of Applied Science and Technology-DISAT, along with Professors Ettore Bompard and Huang Tao from the "Galileo Ferraris" Department of Energy-DENERG, and Professor Alessandro Vigliani from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering-DIMEAS, who also serves as Co-Director of the Politecnico's China Center for Engineering.
During the meeting, participants reviewed the successes of existing collaborations between the Politecnico and USTC, which have laid a solid foundation for the new agreement. These include the 2016 partnership between DISAT and the Institute of Plasma Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, aimed at advancing plasma physics and its applications to controlled thermonuclear fusion, as well as the use of advanced technologies in archaeology and cultural heritage. Another milestone was the 2019 agreement between DISAT and the KTX Laboratory of USTC, which fostered mutual understanding and opened new opportunities for joint research.
The meeting culminated in the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding between Rector Corgnati and Chairman Shu, a document formalizing a shared commitment to developing future academic and scientific synergies.
The Chinese delegation, which also included Kun Qu, Director of the Office of International Cooperation, and Program Officers Li Song, Shengpeng Huang, and Xiaohui Sun, later visited the DISAT facilities and laboratories, where they met with various professors who guided them through the department's extensive activities.
The visit concluded with a roundtable discussion focused on exploring new areas of collaboration between the two universities. Among the proposals, a standout initiative was the creation of a student exchange agreement, designed to offer students from both institutions the opportunity to spend one or two semesters at the partner university, providing them with a unique experience for academic and cultural growth.