Environmental Institute Planned in Nanjing

On Tuesday, Professor Dr. Thomas Hirth, KIT Vice President for Innovation and International, signed a project management agreement with Professor Liu Qing, President of the Jiangsu Industrial Technology Research Institute (JITRI). The contract aims to develop a concept for the establishment and operation of an Environmental Technology Institute in Nanjing in six months (October 2018 - March 2019). The signing took place in the New Palace in Stuttgart and in the presence of the Governor of Jiangsu Province as well as the Minister of Economic Affairs, Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut and Environment Minister Franz Untersteller of the State of Baden-Württemberg.

"The topic of environmental protection and resource-saving production is very high on the political agenda in China and especially in the partner province of Baden-Württemberg, Jiangsu. With the KIT Climate and Environment Center and its renowned research institutions in the geological and environmental sciences, KIT has proven competence and would like to contribute to improving the environmental situation in Jiangsu with its broad scientific know-how, and the cooperation with JITRI is ideally suited for this," Professor Hirth said.

"A future institute for environmental science and technology should ideally combine the three core tasks of KIT in teaching, research and innovation, together with the Chinese partners, and be active at the interface between science, industry and politics," Professor Stefan Norra from the Institute of Applied Geosciences (AGW), scientific project leader during the conception phase, added.

JITRI is sponsoring the KIT for the six-month concept phase with 1,000,000.- RMB (about 125,000 euros). As of October, employees of KIT will take turns in Nanjing to work on the scientific and administrative conceptions. This includes conducting joint workshops with industry as well as academic institutions from Baden-Württemberg and Jiangsu.

In the course of the project, other partners of the KIT are to join, such as the Nanjing University of Science and Technology (NJUST) as a strategic partner university of KIT in Jiangsu Province. On this occasion, Professor Hirth signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Wednesday with the Vice President of NJUST, Professor. Xi Zhanwen.