Summer Schools & Courses

Applied Energy Summer School 2018 Tsinghua University

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye we reached Day 4 of Applied Energy Summer School. Today, the participants had the privilege of attending Professor Junguo Liu of Southern University of Science and Technology and his lecture, "The Water-Food-Energy Nexus and Regional Resource Security," as well as Professor Yutao Wang of Fudan University and his lecture, "Promoting Cleaner Production." The participants then continued their work on carbon accounting and water accounting, and in the afternoon joined a prize quiz and a fun water-gun battle.

Early in the morning, the participants set out from their residence at Jiasuo. They passed through Jingzhai, one of the Tsinghua eight historic dormitories, and walked by the "Moonlight over the Lotus Pond" made famous by Zhu Ziqing, before arriving at Jin Chun Yuan Hotel, the heart of the Qing-era Xichun Garden and the venue of our summer school.

Over the previous two days, with guidance from Professor Dabo Guan, Dr. Yuli Shan and Dr. Zongyong Zhang, the participants had basically mastered the methods of carbon accounting and water accounting. Just after eight, the Third Conference Room of Jin Chun Yuan was already filled with summer school participants. They gathered by group and began an intense round of work.

Distinguished Lectures

At 11:00 a.m., Professor Dabo Guan formally introduced the first mystery guest of the day: Professor Junguo Liu of Southern University of Science and Technology, a recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars and a selected expert of the National Ten Thousand Talents Program. Professor Liu briefly introduced the history and team development of Southern University of Science and Technology, then gave a detailed lecture on the global water-food-energy landscape, links between food production and water resources, food waste and water resources, biomass energy and water and land resources, hydropower development in China, and the relationship between thermal power plants and water resources. The participants said they gained a great deal from Professor Liu and his excellent presentation, and gave him warm, sustained applause.

At 2:00 p.m., the venue welcomed the second mystery guest of the day: Professor Yutao Wang of Fudan University, co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Cleaner Production. Professor Wang gave a detailed talk on global environmental issues in the twentieth century, cleaner production compared with traditional production, submission requirements for the Journal of Cleaner Production, an introduction to cleaner production in China, pulp production in the electronic age, and related topics. After the lecture, Professor Wang held a friendly discussion with the participants.

Prize Quiz

At 4:30 p.m., while the participants were deep in their accounting work, Professor Guan announced the start of recreation time, with a series of activities including a prize quiz, lightning-round questions and "Last One Standing." Questions covered a wide range of knowledge, including Chinese classical literature, world sports, China Marriage Law, Chinese history, Peking opera, Chinese geography, the Four Great Classical Novels, and political culture. Surprises kept coming and cheers rang out. Each winning team member received a water gun personally presented by Professor Guan.

Last One Standing

Water-Gun Battle

At 5:10 p.m., the summer school reached its most exciting moment: the water-gun battle. Armed with their water guns, the participants followed Professor Dabo Guan, Ms. Xiaocui Qiao and others to the activity area beside Jin Chun Yuan. As the water-gun battle grew more intense, it gradually turned into a water-splashing battle, bringing the activity to its peak.

After four days of summer school activities, the participants had deeply felt how distinctive this program was. It was different from previous summer schools centered on political activities, moved beyond dull research tasks, and avoided a single focus on games and entertainment. During this summer school, everyone not only took part in lively and surprising activities, but also learned high-level professional knowledge and experienced the importance of team collaboration.

On the beautiful Tsinghua campus, where spirit gathers, the lotus moon is in season and the excitement continues.