Tsinghua University hosted an opening ceremony to welcome its new cohort of more than 9,000 graduate students on August 31.

At the opening ceremony, Tsinghua University President Wang Xiqin delivered a speech and extended a warm welcome to all incoming graduate students on behalf of the University.

He said that the Tsinghua campus has once again become refreshed by the arrival of new students who have come with their own stories and dreams, ushering in a new chapter in their lives.

Emphasizing that graduate students are research students, he encouraged incoming new graduate students to be reality-based and learn through practice in their studies. “To find problems and solve them in practice is to seek truth, and to serve the motherland and the people is to seek goodness. Empty talk leads to nowhere. Only practice and hard work can build a nation.”

He called on the incoming students to carry forward the glorious tradition of dedication to the country and the pursuit of excellence, integrate their academic pursuits into the great cause of building a modern socialist country, and always put the people first.

He also instructed incoming graduate students to strive to make their research works thorough, simplified, easy to understand, and profound. He added: “While working on difficult problems in your fields, please remember to make your achievements more accessible and applicable.”

In concluding his remarks, he expressed his hope that the new students would keep seeking truth from facts, seeking solutions from practice, learning for the people, and linking their academic pursuits with the development of the country and the nation. “I hope your research results can withstand the test of practice, the people, and history, and I hope you contribute your wisdom and strengths to the rejuvenation of our nation.”

Wang affixed a Tsinghua badge to the graduate student representative Wang Yunan.

Tsinghua Vice President and Provost Yang Bin moderated the opening ceremony, attended by other University leaders.

Fu Yujie, a doctoral student from the School of Marxism and President of the Graduate Student Union, delivered his remarks as the senior graduate representative.

He urged the newcomers to be Tsinghua people with unwavering determination and perseverance and become the mainstay in a changing world.

Professor Tang Chuanxiang from the Department of Engineering Physics gave a speech at the opening ceremony as the faculty representative. He called on the new graduate students to pursue their academic endeavors at the world’s top academic level, as he shared some advice on how the new students could make their time at Tsinghua more fulfilling.

Zheng Hao from the Department of Civil Engineering delivered her remarks as the new master’s student representative. She urged her fellow newcomers to work together and to study together to better themselves and create a better tomorrow.

Likewise, Wang Yunan from the Department of Mechanical Engineering gave a speech as the new doctoral student representative. He said that as graduates of Tsinghua students, they were obliged to grasp opportunities, rise to the challenges, and make their contributions to the disciplines and the fields they are in.

Nearly 500 incoming graduate students attended the ceremony at the University Gymnasium, the main venue for the ceremony. More than 5,000 new graduate students watched the live broadcast in sub-venues.

Writer: Sangeet Sangroula

Editors: Guo Lili, John Olbrich

Photographers: Li Pai, Jia Guihao, Yang Yuhan, Chang Zhidong