Getting a taste of campus life in China; attending lectures and seminars in Dresden led by professors from China; researching mobility topics of the future together with Chinese scientists and publishing the results on an international stage; organizing conferences in Dresden and China – for the students, teachers and researchers of the "Friedrich List" Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences at TU Dresden, the year 2021 begins with highly exciting perspectives.

The faculty has signed a cooperation agreement with Southwest Jiaotong University (SWJTU) in Chengdu, China, one of the top universities in China and worldwide. SWJTU is ranked 26th among the world's best universities in the field of "Transportation Science & Technology" in the renowned international Shanghai University Ranking (Global Ranking of Academic Subjects –  GRA). The TU Dresden with its "Friedrich List" Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences was listed among the top 150 of the best universities for the first time in 2020.

Cooperation is international recognition of excellent research work

"This cooperation agreement is an honour and a great benefit for the ,Friedrich List' Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences – but above all, it is also an international confirmation and recognition of our excellent research work around the topics of transport and mobility in all its facets," said the Dean of the Faculty, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Günther Prokop, after signing the cooperation.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Arnd Stephan, holder of the Chair of Electric Railways at the "Friedrich List" Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences, will coordinate the cooperation with SWJTU. His first contacts with the university in Chengdu go back to 2017 and laid the foundation for the cooperation agreement. "In our faculty strategy adopted in 2020 the topic of 'networking' is a focus for the coming years – starting within the TU Dresden, via national networks and players, and extending into the international arena," says Stephan. "In order to shape the mobility of the future and find sustainable answers to the associated challenges, we must develop systemic solutions as well as global approaches and strong international networks."

The cooperation agreement with SWJTU’s School of Electrical Engineering, School of Information Science & Technology, School of Mechanical Engineering, and School of Transportation & Logistics includes the following activities:

• Initiatives for students, including student exchange and two-week study tours on the campus of the respective partner
• Initiatives for teaching staff, including collaborative teaching of undergraduate and graduate students through joint academic programs
• Initiatives for research staff, including research collaborations such as a two-week joint summer school on mutually defined research topics, development of joint research programs, collaborative scholarly publications, exchange of scholars, faculty members and post-doctoral fellows
• Joint events, including co-hosting of international academic conferences

The collaboration will commence with a two-week "Joint Summer School" in Dresden in summer 2022, for which preparations will start soon under the leadership of Prof. Arnd Stephan.