Istanbul Technical University (ITU) continues to develop international academic collaborations. An academic delegation led by the Rector of Beijing University of Chemical Technology (BUCT), Prof. Dr. Liu Guiqin, met with ITU Rector Prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal and academics. The meeting took place on April 9, 2026, in the Rectorate Senate Hall at the Ayazağa Campus.
The meeting, which featured fruitful exchanges of ideas for academic cooperation, also addressed projects that researchers from different disciplines could develop together and new collaboration opportunities. Strengthening the sustainable nature of the collaboration and moving towards a high-impact structure were discussed.
Prof. Dr. Mandal and Prof. Dr. Liu signed a memorandum of understanding during the meeting.
Our Rector stated that this meeting brought together the strong research capacities of the two universities and comprehensively discussed areas of cooperation that would lay the groundwork for joint projects. The two universities, with their long histories, they emphasized that they had reached a consensus on how to further advance their experience, particularly in the fields of chemical engineering and metallurgy and materials engineering. They noted that they had formalized their collaboration, which will be realized through joint projects developed with innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence, intelligent and autonomous systems, with the signatures they affixed. The memorandum of understanding between ITU and BUCT aims to move forward together on issues ranging from joint research activities to postgraduate academic collaborations, student and researcher mobility, and the establishment of joint laboratories in priority areas. A roadmap was determined for the development of joint postgraduate programs, the initiation of co-supervised doctoral processes, and steps to deepen research studies in a way that will produce concrete outputs. ITU academics shared the work carried out within the university with BUCT representatives through presentations. BUCT academics also conducted inspections in the laboratories of our Faculty of Chemistry and Metallurgy. Our Rector had visited BUCT in December 2025 as part of his contacts in China.