Top Chinese-Australian scientists join new-energy research push at Shanghai university
- Dou Shixue and Liu Huakun will boost the city’s efforts to become a science and tech innovation centre, USST president says
- Appointments come as China is trying to lure more scientific talent from abroad as it seeks to reduce reliance on foreign technology
Two top Chinese-Australian scientists have joined the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology to help find ways for China to reduce its carbon emissions, according to a USST statement.
Dou Shixue and Liu Huakun – both of whom were born in China but have lived in Australia for decades – will “greatly enhance the academic strength of the material science disciplines” at the university, its president Ding Xiaodong said in the statement on the USST website on Monday.
The couple would also boost Shanghai’s efforts to become a science and technology innovation centre, he said.
“Not only have they made outstanding academic achievements in their respective fields of scientific research, they have also made important contributions to promoting China-Australia scientific and technological cooperation,” Ding said.
Dou and Liu were both distinguished professors with the Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials at the University of Wollongong in New South Wales. A ceremony marking their new appointments was held at USST on Monday and attended by Shanghai government officials. Neither Dou nor Liu could be immediately reached for comment.