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Winthrop Prof Dongke Zhang FTSE has been appointed the Academic Master of China’s “111” Project on “Coal Conversion and Utilization Research and Education” at North China Electric Power University (NCEPU), funded by China’s Ministry of Education.

The 111 Projects Program was launched jointly by the Ministry of Education and the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, China, in 2005. The aims of this program are to: 1) establish 100 R&D and education bases in the universities supported by the 985 Project and 211 Project; 2) invite 1,000 overseas talents from the top 100 universities and research institutes worldwide; and 3) strengthen the innovation capability and overall competitiveness in China’s leading universities. Each program lasts for five years and invites about 10 overseas scholars to work together with the corresponding Chinese partners from a week to 6 months each year.

W/Professor Dongke Zhang FTSE was the lynch-pin in setting up this “111” project with his counterparts, Professor Yongping Yang, Vice-President of NCEPU and Professor Kai Zhang, Group Leader, Coal Conversion and Utilisation at NCEPU.

UWA’s Professors Hong Yang and Yee-Kwong Leong, W/Professors Mike Johns, Eric May and Hui Tong Chua are also named the overseas talents involved in this project.

“The 111 Project at NCEPU highlights again the significant influence of UWA’s energy research in the World’s most populated country China. The solving of the current energy, environment and climate change dilemma faced by the humanity largely depends on how we help addressing these issues in China. UWA stands to benefit enormously from this linkage in many ways”, said W/Professor Dongke Zhang FTSE. “It is my strong belief that if we are to have global influence and realise our scientific and educational ideology and have a greater global impact, then working with China is an important strategy”.

He adds “Stronger collaborations in Science, Technology and Research Training in energy and resources certainly hold a key to the long term prosperity of both countries. I think the most benefit we could do at UWA is research and student training. China has a generation of very good engineers and we now need a generation of academics who understand the importance of collaboration with China and can supply the appropriate training to Chinese students, along with our energy and resources exports to China.”

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Miss Yii Leng Chan (+61 8) 6488 7602