Consolidation of Bielefeld University‘s international relations

The new Chinese government has been in office for only three weeks. On Wednesday 5 December, the new General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and designated President of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping, received a delegation of 20 selected international experts currently visiting China – including Bielefeld’s chemistry professor Dr. Katharina Kohse-Höinghaus. The President of the International Combustion Institute and Holder of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany is currently on a lecture tour of China.

The delegation was received by Xi Jinping and several ministers in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. ‘The invitation came as a complete surprise and is a great honour,’ says Katharina Kohse-Höinghaus. ‘I was particularly impressed by the generous amount of time allotted for the exchange of ideas and how expressly Xi Jinping emphasized the willingness to further open up and develop China in the international context.’ As one of four experts, Kohse-Höinghaus was able to personally present her perspective for the development of research and science in China. Her short talk emphasized the importance for exchange of interdisciplinary activity, critical thinking, and an open climate.

Particularly in the natural sciences, Bielefeld University maintains close ties with Chinese scientific institutions. Katharina Kohse-Höinghaus is currently spending four weeks as a guest at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, with which she has already been working together for ten years.

Katharina Kohse-Höinghaus has been a Professor of Physical Chemistry at Bielefeld University since 1994 and a member of the University Council since 2008. She is an active member of numerous scientific organizations including the Senates of the German Research Foundation, the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, and the International Advisory Board of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. In 2007–2008, she served as the President of the German Bunsen Society of Physical Chemistry. She was elected as a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina in 2008 and appointed a member of the German Council of Science and Humanities in 2012.

 

Image: Screenshot CCTV News,
http://english.cntv.cn/program/newsupdate/20121206/100163.shtml