The school sponsors a Xuanhuai Project named after the university founder Sheng Xuanhuai, a role model of innovation and reform, to serve as an enterprise incubator. The project provides each participant with industry mentors who give tailored advice. Photo: Courtesy of Tianjin University

Tianjin University, a prestigious center of teaching and research, has always been dedicated to inspiring outstanding students and empowering them to do amazing things in the world.

In recent years, the university has given full play to its own advantages and integrated itself into the wave of entrepreneurship and innovation, making related education and competitions a necessary part of the construction of a high-level university.

In the past three years, Tianjin University has won more than 40 national awards and 267 awards in Tianjin. 

In July, two 10,000-meter-class "Petrel-X" underwater gliders with independent intellectual property rights jointly developed by Tianjin University and the National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology reached a dive depth of 10,619 meters in a six-day comprehensive scientific examination, setting the newest world record for the dive depth of an underwater glider.

In November, Tianjin Yunyao Aerospace Technology Co., Ltd and Huaxin Intelligent (Zhuhai) Technology Co., Ltd, two companies supported by Peiyang Begonia Venture Capital Fund, a private fund established by Tianjin University's alumni, made it into the top 12 of the Start-up Group in the final of the 9th China Innovation & Entrepreneurship Competition. Initiated by Tianjin University alumni, the fund connects entrepreneurial alumni across the country and together with many top investment institutions like Tianjin Venture Capital, Volcanics Venture and Renai Capital, reaches out to help entrepreneurial projects led by Tianjin University alumni through financial support, resource docking and technology cooperation. 

As the 6th China International College Students' "Internet Plus" Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition wrapped out on November 17 and 18, Tianjin University broke the record for awards won among all universities and colleges in Tianjin, with two golds and three silvers in the competition finals. 

Tianjin University has won gold medals for three consecutive years in the competition, with a total of four golds, six silvers and eight bronze medals in the Major Track, the International Track, and the Youth Dream Track, covering categories of creativity, start-ups, growth, co-creation of teachers and students, and public benefits.

The year 2020 marks the 125th anniversary of the establishment of Tianjin University. To mark the event, the university launched 125 major scientific problems in September for future research, serving as a special activity for the celebration. 

These questions can be read as "Can 4 kilograms of DNA contain the whole world's data? Can brain computer interaction research outperform Elon Musk's? Is there a chance that factory exhaust and automobile exhaust become power sources in the future?"

"The release of these issues is not only a special birthday gift all scientific researchers at Tianjin University prepared for the university, but also a goal they set for themselves," said Gong Jinlong, the university's vice president, at a meeting. 

With the focus on major national strategic demands and the world's scientific and technological development frontiers, the major scientific issues released this time were selected by experts after many rounds of evaluation and discussion, and involved health care, environmental science and governance, energy materials, artificial intelligence, manufacturing and construction.

"Innovation is the key strength for development. By raising these scientific problems, we hope to cultivate and gather great minds and work together for a bright future," Li Jiajun, Party Chief of Tianjin University, said at the releasing ceremony.