Kyoto University On-site Laboratory
Kyoto University – Tsinghua University
Cooperative Research and Education Center for Environmental Technology (CRECET)
In the context of globalization, Kyoto University and Tsinghua University have joined together to advance education and research in leading-edge technology. Makoto Nagao, the former president of Kyoto University, and Wang Dazhong, the former president of Tsinghua University, concluded the “Academic Exchange Agreement between Kyoto and Tsinghua University” in Beijing, on May 5th, 1998; and since then, academic exchange has been enhanced. In June 2005, the Kyoto University Graduate School of Engineering and the Graduate School of Tsinghua University at Shenzhen concluded the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Cooperative Research and Education Center for Environmental Technology Kyoto University – Tsinghua University (CRECET), and the center was opened in October, 2005.
Before the establishment of CRECET, the faculties of both universities had actively sought to establish a long-lasting mutual relationship, and in April 2001, they launched the JSPS – MOE Core University Program on the Urban Environment as a core university program in each country. It aimed at promoting research that would contribute to the creation of safe and eco-friendly urban environments through academic exchange. In April 2004, Kyoto University, Tsinghua University, and the University of Malaya launched the MEXT Program for Modern Needs of Higher Education in Global and Technology, which aimed to exploit their shared network of researchers for educational purposes. The program was based on the joint Japanese-Malaysian JSPS-VCC Core University Program in Environmental Science, which commenced in April 2000, and aimed to initiate real-time remote lectures in the member countries. Professors from the three universities delivered a common lecture concerning Global and Environmental Science, offering students of the three schools the opportunity to learn and discuss together. Although the program was initially designed as a three-year project, it continues to operate to this day. The Graduate School of Engineering at Kyoto University has incorporated it into formal courses called “New Environmental Engineering I, Advanced” and “New Environmental Engineering II, Advanced”. In summary, the core university programs focus on research, the MEXT program focuses on education, and CRECET, along with other joint initiatives of Kyoto University and Tsinghua University, focuses on the advancement of research and education connected with on-site practices.
CRECET is located in Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School (SIGS) (former the Graduate School of Tsinghua University) at Shenzhen. The Shenzhen Graduate School, part of Tsinghua University, is a research and educational organization established by the university and the city of Shenzhen, devoted to technological innovation and the development of highly educated human resources. As one of the university’s educational institutions, it plays an important role in establishing Tsinghua University as one of the leading universities in the world. It aims to develop professionals, and promote unique research and advanced technology, providing economic benefits and social services not only to Shenzhen but to the whole of China.
More than a decade has passed since CRECET was established in 2005. Through the common efforts of the faculty, staff, and students of Kyoto University and Tsinghua University, with their complementary strengths, each university has created new education models. Tsinghua University manages educational institutions in other cities in China, and Kyoto University manages a similar institution overseas. These models provide technology and research partners for solving environmental problems, encouraging a rich and open exchange of information about environmental measures, environmental science, new environmental technology, joint academic-industrial projects, joint research, and lectures aimed at developing a professional of environmental engineers. Since its establishment, CRECET has been proactively promoting cooperation and collaboration among private companies in Japan and China in every field, and actively engaging in education, research, and student training, with impressive results in cooperative and advanced research.
In addition, in December 2018, CRECET was authorized as one of the on-site laboratories of Kyoto University (see p. 9), and the MOU for a fifth CRECET term was signed in Shenzhen, together with an agreement for the Double Degree Program at the Kyoto University Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University and the Graduate School of Tsinghua University at Shenzhen (see p. 9). CRECET is currently aiming at further development in the future.
