Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge Speaks at Tsinghua
By Jiang Li, Li Han, Tsinghua News Center
Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, visited Tsinghua University on April 7th and delivered a speech on "The Spirit of Discovery” in the Main Building. It was the one hundredth in the Tsinghua Global Vision Lectures Series and one of 100 academic activities marking the 100th anniversary of Tsinghua University.
Tsinghua University President Gu Binglin had a discussion with Sir Borysiewicz prior to the speech. During their conversation, President Gu and Sir Borysiewicz reviewed the cooperation between Tsinghua and the University of Cambridge, especially the Tsinghua-Cambridge-MIT low carbon alliance established in 2009, and expressed hope that collaboration could be expanded between their two universities in the coming years. Tsinghua Vice President Yuan Si and Tsinghua University Vice Chairperson He Jiankun also participated in the discussion.
Professor Borysiewicz extended his congratulations for the 100th anniversary of Tsinghua University at the beginning of his speech.
"I have to warn you that it’s possible that some of the questions will come from me and hopefully some of the answers from you,” said Sir Leszek Borysiewicz about the Question and Answer time, “because I want to use this wonderful opportunity to learn more about Tsinghua University as well.”
His speech covered three directions of discovery. One was “how universities discover the world”; a second asked “how the world discovers universities”; and the third was “how institutions like Tsinghua and Cambridge discover and respect each other, and explore their combined role in the world of today”.
Professor Borysiewicz said that going beyond the edge is what discovery in the academic world is all about. The role of a university is education and giving students more opportunities to explore. He challenged college students to be excited about discovery and devote themselves to it.
As for the relationship between universities, Sir Leszek Borysiewicz emphasized that institutions should develop further collaboration in academic research and exchange more ideas as they confront such global issues as population growth, degradation of the environment, and energy.
After his speech, Sir Leszek Borysiewicz answered questions from Tsinghua students about university studies, personal development and research.
Sir Borysiewicz became the 345th Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge on October 1st, 2010.
(Photo by Guo Haijun)
