On the afternoon of September 11, 2025, a symposium on deepening collaboration in the chemistry discipline between Harbin Institute of Technology’s School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and St. Petersburg State University (SPbU) was held in Lecture Hall D702 of the Mingde Building. The symposium was attended by representatives from both universities. From SPbU: Prof. Irina A. Balova (Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry), Prof. Alina Manshina, Associate Prof. Viktor Korzhikov-Vlakh (Director of the Biomaterials Laboratory), and Prof. Mikhail Ryazantsev (Director of Graduate Programs). From HIT: Liu Guanghui (Party Secretary), Vice Deans Hu Zhen, Lu Songtao, and Lou Shuaifeng, Han Xiaojun (Director of the Department of Chemistry), Prof. Wang Lei (Director of the International Development Center), and Prof. Xu Hong from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. The symposium was chaired by Vice Dean Lu Songtao.
Liu Guanghui noted that the robust development of the China-Russia chemistry undergraduate program, together with the formal unveiling of the China-Russia Joint Research Center for Chemistry, marks a new stage in the internationalization of the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. Moving forward, the School will continue to advance a “dual-track parallel” cooperation mechanism: on one hand, sending outstanding young scholars to SPbU for joint research, and on the other hand, providing Russian researchers working in China with housing support, interdisciplinary collaboration opportunities, and other resources to help them integrate into China’s innovation ecosystem. He emphasized that SPbU's Faculty of Chemistry, as a major academic center in chemistry in Russia and worldwide, has strong expertise in biomaterials, green chemical engineering, and related fields, and that the long-standing good relationship between the two sides provides a solid foundation for deeper cooperation. He expressed hope that future collaboration will be guided by the principles of “resource sharing, complementary strengths, and coordinated development,” with systematic cooperation in talent cultivation, scientific research, and curriculum system development, promoting the efficient transformation of joint research outcomes and injecting strong momentum into HIT's goal of advancing toward the front ranks of world-class universities.
Prof. Irina A. Balova stated that HIT’s School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering has always been one of SPbU’s most important strategic partners. HIT’s breakthrough progress in frontier fields such as new energy materials will set new benchmarks for Russia-China scientific and technological cooperation. SPbU’s Faculty of Chemistry has deep expertise in biomaterials, green chemical engineering, and other areas, and looks forward to achieving organized research breakthroughs through the joint construction of high-level research platforms. She pointed out that SPbU is willing to integrate its senior faculty team into China’s research platform system to promote efficient flow of talent, equipment, and other innovation resources between both sides. At the same time, by leveraging special policy support from governments at various levels in China for high-level international cooperation, as well as HIT’s excellent research environment and international conditions, both sides can accelerate the technological commercialization of research outcomes.
During the symposium, both sides held in-depth discussions on topics including joint research platform construction, research outcome transformation, and talent cultivation. After thorough exchanges, both sides reached a consensus that in the future, they will focus on building a systematic and efficiently functioning cooperation model and mechanism, strengthen collaborative innovation in key areas such as joint research projects, high-level joint talent cultivation, and international academic platform construction, and work together to build a globally influential chemistry research hub. This will make new and greater contributions to advancing high-level cooperation in chemistry between the two countries and provide strong support for the national strategy of achieving high-level self-reliance in science and technology.
