東亞研究型大學協會傑出學者講座開幕致詞

As the Chairperson of AEARU, that is, The Association of East Asian Research Universities, I have the pleasure of launching the first presentation of the AEARU Distinguished Lecture Series this morning, here in Nanjing.

Some of you may not be very familiar with AEARU and, therefore, do not have the background information on this Lecture Series.  AEARU was organized in 1996 to promote cooperation among, and exchange between leading research universities in East Asia.  Currently, AEARU has 17 member-universities; 5 from China, 6 from Japan, 3 from Korea, 2 from Taiwan and Hong Kong is represented by HKUST.  All these member-universities are well-known elite institutions of higher education. While all of them are excellent research universities, each member-university is also distinguished for her particular research strength and accomplishments. Thus, it is only natural that some mechanism should be established to allow all of these elite institutions to cooperate with each other, to share their research experience, expertise; and, more importantly, to allow all students in different campuses to have a chance to participate in collaborative research projects as well as academic exchange programs.

Over the last 17 years, the Association has expanded and accomplished a great deal. As the new Chair of AEARU, I proposed the idea of establishing an AEARU Distinguished Lecture Series this year. My hope is to bring outstanding scholars and scientists from various AEARU campuses to a member-university which is hosting AEARU’s annual meeting and have them present their newest research endeavors in a public forum. This will not only show-case their cutting-edge researches, but also stimulate young scholars like you and provide you with the successfully experience of these accomplished researchers.

We are here today not only to launch this Lecture Series; we are also here for a very special reason---to celebrate the 110^th anniversary of Nanjing University. As the Chair of AEARU and the President of NTHU, I believe I have a double pleasure to represent both AEARU and NTHU to wish Nanjing a very Happy Anniversary! Last but not the least, I wish each and every one of you good health and great success in your study and research.