On November 21, the "2025 Tsinghua-KAIST Joint Forum on Catalysis and Materials Design Towards Carbon Neutrality" was held at Tsinghua University. Co-hosted by the Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University and the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), the forum gathered more than 40 faculty members, students and scholars from both sides. Distinguished participants included Doh Chang Lee, Chair of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at KAIST, along with 6 accompanying scholars; and from the Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Zhang Qiang, Dean of the Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University; Qian Weizhong, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the Department; Lu Yuan, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the Department; Li Chun, Director of the Key Laboratory of Industrial Biocatalysis(Tsinghua University),Ministry of Education; and Liu Zhendong, Assistant to the Dean (in charge of international affairs), among others.

During the forum, scholars from both institutions shared their research achievements in the design and application of semiconductor materials, electrolytes and electrodes for new energy batteries, syngas-to-chemicals conversion, DNA-PEG conjugates, bioinspired intelligent materials, and other related fields.

In the speech session of the forum, Zhang Qiang extended a warm welcome to the KAIST scholars. He pointed out that catalysis and materials research is a key field for achieving carbon neutrality goals, and is crucial for promoting the development of clean energy and sustainable chemical industry. He mentioned that with the rise of artificial intelligence, this field is ushering in unprecedented development opportunities, and expressed anticipation for deeper cooperation with world-class international universities such as KAIST to jointly explore cutting-edge development directions in the field of chemical engineering.

In his speech, Doh Chang Lee stated that since the first joint forum co-hosted by the two sides in 2017, this platform has become an important bridge for academic exchanges between China and South Korea. The theme of this year’s forum, "Catalysis and Materials Design Towards Carbon Neutrality", not only aligns with the global trend of sustainable development, but also reflects the common pursuit of the two universities in promoting the development of low-carbon technologies. He hoped that through in-depth exchanges, the two sides will further expand cooperation and join hands to contribute to addressing global climate challenges.

The bilateral seminar series in the field of chemical engineering between Tsinghua University and KAIST was launched in 2017 and has now held eight sessions. In the future, scholars from both sides will work together to continuously promote in-depth cooperation and make contributions to technological innovation and industrial progress in the chemical engineering field.

Group photo