Peking University, November 13, 2023: Peking University (PKU) President Gong Qihuang led a delegation to South Africa and Türkiye from Nov. 6-11, 2023. The delegation attended the Optics and Photonics Africa (OPA2023) Congress in South Africa, and reaffirmed academic collaboration with universities in Türkiye.

President Gong and Bosphorous University’s President Mehmet Naci Inci signed a cooperation agreement on behalf of both universities

President Gong attended the Optics and Photonics Africa (OPA2023) Congress held in South Africa, during which he discussed cutting-edge research, innovation technologies and emerging trends in the field of optics and photonics with researchers, scholars and industry insiders from around the world. This helped to promote international cooperation in the field of optics and photonics at PKU.

During OPA2023, President Gong met with members of the bureau of the International Commission for Optics (ICO). In his capacity as the Vice Chairman of ICO, Gong engaged in discussion with the ICO bureau on current and future developments of the Commission.

Later, President Gong also met with the President of Optica (formerly the Optical Society of America) Michal Lipson. They reaffirmed the friendly relations between PKU, the Chinese Optical Society and Optica, and touched on topics such as future cooperation, joint research and academic resource-sharing in the field, to further strengthen cooperation between the institutions.

Representatives from the Chinese Optical Society and Optica meet in South Africa

After visiting South Africa, the delegation visited Bosphorus University in Türkiye. President Gong engaged in fruitful discussions with Bosphorus University’s President Mehmet Naci Inci and Vice-President Gürkan Kumbaroğlu, who had just visited PKU in September. President Gong shared that PKU values its collaboration and exchanges with Bosphorous University, while Inci expressed his hope to further collaboration between the two universities. Both parties signed a cooperation agreement, marking a new chapter of cooperation.

At Istanbul University, President Gong and the delegation met with the University’s President Osman Bülent Zülfikar, as well as the Head of Department for Chinese Language and Türkiye’s famous sinologist Eyüp Sarıtaş. Gong shared his hopes for both universities to deepen their collaboration in areas such as language, culture, medicine, and regional studies. Zülfikar looked forward to discussing student exchanges with PKU and carrying out exchanges in the medical field.

Gong Qihuang and the delegation meeting Osman Bülent Zülfikar

As one of the important events of the PKU Global Engagement Year, this academic visit by the PKU delegation to South Africa and Türkiye provided a platform for communication between PKU and experts in optics and photonics field, and further deepened academic collaboration and talent exchanges between PKU and Türkiye’s top universities. The visit also broadened areas of possible cooperation between PKU and countries along the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) route.

This article was featured in the special coverage of PKU's Global Engagement Year.


Written by: Lee Xin Ying Rachel
Edited by: Wu Jiayun
Source: PKU News (Chinese)