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Party Secretary Li Jiajun of Tianjin University

President Zhong Denghua of Tianjin University

Dear teachers, students, alumni and friends,

On this special occasion, on behalf of the university, I would like to extend my sincerest best wishes for the New Year to all faculty and students, retirees, alumni at home and abroad, and people from all walks of life who are concerned with and support the development of Tianjin University.

Last year, 2018 was an extraordinary year for Tianjin University. Faculty and students throughout the university were pioneering to forge ahead, reforming, innovating and all undertakings of the university have achieved rapid development.

Over the past year, the talents training has achieved remarkable results. With the joint efforts of teachers and students, the undergraduate education auditing assessment by the Ministry of Education was a success. The expert group agreed that "Tianjin University presents a spirit and atmosphere that are pioneering and enterprising, pursuing first-class education, seeking truth from facts, and forging ahead in solidarity". Ten achievements were recognized by the National Teaching Achievement Awards in 2018. In the new year, we will continue to uphold the principle of talent cultivation with high moral standards, deepen the comprehensive reform of personnel training, and constantly improve the quality of personnel training.

Over the past year, faculty team building has been continuously strengthened; adhering to the principle of ‘simultaneous introduction and cultivation’, we have 92 new high-level talents of all kinds. Academician Wang Jingkang's team was selected as the first batch of “Huang Danian-Type Team of Excellence in Higher Education Institutions”. Six teachers were awarded the first Seeking Truth Teaching Model Awards. In the new year, we will further the reform of the personnel system and build a first-class teaching staff team with noble principles full of vigor.

Over the past year, the disciplinary layout has been improved. We established the College of Medicine, the School of Artificial Intelligence, the College of Intelligence and Computing, and the Institute of Molecular Plus, deeply promoting the comprehensive disciplinary layout of ‘Strengthening Engineering, Enhancing Science, Revitalizing Humanities and Developing Medicine’. Nine disciplines have entered the top 1% in ESI rankings and three were ranked in the top 1/1000. In the new year, we will continue to strengthen the construction of first-class disciplines and continually enhance the competitiveness of disciplines.

Over the past year, the capacity for innovation has been increasing. We successfully convened the third Conference on Science and Technology, planned ‘three layouts’, implemented ‘three plans’ and realized ‘three improvements'. The total funding on science and technology, the number of papers published on SCI and patents applied have reached new records. A large-scale earthquake engineering simulation research facilitywill be built at Tianjin University and a synthetic biology pioneering center has been approved to be established in the near future. In the new year, we will deepen the reform of the scientific research system and continuously improve the ability of scientific and technological innovation.

Over the past year, the internationalization strategy has been implemented in depth. The University has signed 43 cooperation agreements with 35 overseas universities and research institutes. We have strengthened cooperation with Georgia Institute of Technology, and National University of Singapore, among other world-class universities to cultivate more outstanding talents. In the new year, we will continue to deepen international exchanges and cooperation and continually enhance international influence.

The Spring Festival is a new beginning, heralding new hope. On the new journey of building a world-class university with Chinese characteristics, let's never forget why we started, strive ahead and welcome the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China with outstanding achievements!

Finally, I sincerely wish Tianjin University people and friends from all walks of life who are concerned with and support Tianjin University's development around the world a happy New Year, good health and happiness for the whole family!

Thank you!