On May 28, Zhang Rong, President of Shandong University, held talks with Dirk Heinz, Director of Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), on further deepen cooperation, during the 1st Sino-German Symposium on Infectious Diseases and Therapeutics held in Qingdao.

Zhang stated during the talks that SDU and Helmholtz Association have had a long-term cooperative relationship, and together set up the Shandong University- Helmholtz Institute of Biotechnology (SHIB), which is an important step in the development of internationalization of SDU, and a powerful fulcrum promoting future cooperation with Germany.

Zhang highly praised the cooperative achievements and hoped that, based on the Qingdao campus, SDU will strengthen cooperation with and Helmholtz Association in specified areas, and realize the mutual advantages in such aspects as construction of the College of German Studies and joint laboratory.

Heinz introduced the research direction and development strategy of SHIB, and expressed confidence that both sides will make greater progress on Qingdao campus, as well as extend cooperation to more areas associated with biotechnology and health research.

Both sides also reached agreement on talent introduction, organization structure, and development plans of the joint institute.  The experts from Helmholtz Association also visited the Qingdao campus after the meeting.

Officials from SHIB, SDU International Affairs Department and Commanding Office of Qingdao Campus attended the relevant activities.

The 1st Sino-German Symposium on Infectious Diseases and Therapeutics is organized by Shandong University-Helmholtz Institute of Biotechnology, State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, and Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland, which with the theme of “Infection and Pharmaceutical”, and involved in the fields of microbial infection, immunity, microbial medicine, and biological technology.

Source:www.view.sdu.edu.cn