On 17 October 2026, the Conference on the High-Quality Development of Materials Science and Engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) (the “Conference”), together with the 2026 Global Deans Forum on Materials (the “Forum”), was held at the Materials Innovation Building. Experts and scholars from universities and research institutes across 21 countries, along with colleagues from 43 partner universities across China and representatives of SJTU alumni, faculty, and students, gathered together to review the discipline's century-long journey of relentless pursuit and jointly chart a new chapter of development.
Distinguished guests in attendance included: Professor Konstantin Novoselov, Distinguished Professor at the National University of Singapore, Director of the Institute for Functional Intelligent Materials and Nobel Laureate in Physics; Professor Osvaldo N. Oliveira Jr., Former President of the International Union of Materials Research Societies, Director of the São Carlos Institute of Physics and Academician of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences; Dame Clare P. Grey, Professor at the University of Cambridge and International Member of the National Academy of Sciences (USA); Professor Andrea C. Ferrari, Professor at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering; Professor Shavkat Azimov, Vice Rector of Tashkent State Technical University, Uzbekistan; Associate Professor Manoj Lohatepanont, Vice President of Chulalongkorn University, Thailand; Professor Didar Batryshev, Vice President of Kazakh-British Technical University; Professor Badmaanyambuu Ranjil, Vice President of the Mongolian University of Science and Technology; Professor Zaini Ahmad, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia; Professor Charl FJ Faul, Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bristol, United Kingdom; Professor Bjorn Birgisson, Vice Provost of Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan; Professor Jon M. Molina-Aldareguía, Director of IMDEA Materials Institute, Spain; Professor ZHU Xinyuan, Director of the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission; ZHAI Jinguo, Deputy Director of the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality; Professor WEI Bingbo, President of the Chinese Materials Research Society and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Professor ZHU Meifang, Academic Dean of the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Donghua University and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Professor XU Haiyang, President of Northeast Normal University; LIU Gang, Director of the Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences; SU Liangbi, Director of the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences; ZHANG Long, Director of the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics; XIE Xiaoming, Former Director of the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology; Professor DING Kuiling, President of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Vice Presidents LIU Weidong and ZENG Xiaoqin; and Academician DING Wenjiang, ZHANG Di and SUN Baode of the School of Materials Science and Engineering. Leaders and experts from domestic partner universities, the leadership of the School, alumni, faculty and student representatives also attended the Conference.
Opening Remarks
1. Address from SJTU
On behalf of SJTU, President DING Kuiling delivered a welcome address. He noted that the materials discipline is one of the university's most time-honored and deeply rooted disciplines, having cultivated a large number of outstanding talents for China and served as the flagship of SJTU's engineering education. In recent years, SJTU has consolidated its educational resources and coordinated the implementation of the “Grand Materials” action plan, creating a full-chain innovation ecosystem for the development of the materials discipline. He urged the School to take the implementation of the important reply-letter spirit of General Secretary XI Jinping to the teachers and students of the four Jiao Tong universities as the scientific guidance and fundamental principle for disciplinary development, remain committed to the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education, continue to deepen reform and innovation, proactively expand cooperation with world-class universities, research institutions and industry partners, and continuously enhance the level of disciplinary development and international competitiveness.
Fig. 3 President DING Kuiling delivering the welcome address
2. Address from the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Education
On behalf of the Commission, Director ZHU Xinyuan delivered a speech. He pointed out that over the past century, SJTU's materials discipline has closely followed China’s national needs, providing comprehensive services to the construction of modern national industry and the industrial system of the People’s Republic of China. Shanghai is now fully implementing its “Higher Education: Serving Development and Enhancing Contribution” plan to align university disciplinary layouts with the construction of Shanghai's “five centers” and its modern industrial system. Advanced materials is one of the key industrial fields prioritized by Shanghai, and the Commission will continue to support the development of SJTU's materials discipline. He expressed the hope that the School will closely align with the needs of key industries such as integrated circuits, high-end equipment and new energy, making new contributions to Shanghai's goal of building a globally influential science and technology innovation center.
Fig. 4 Director ZHU Xinyuan delivering the speech
3. Address from the Chinese Materials Research Society
On behalf of the Society, President WEI Bingbo delivered a speech. He noted that over the past century, SJTU's materials discipline has cultivated a large number of internationally renowned masters and leading talents in the materials field, achieving globally leading results in directions such as magnesium alloy structural materials, metal matrix composites, and precision investment casting of superalloys. These achievements represent an outstanding contribution to the development of China's materials science and technology. Many faculty members have long devoted themselves to teaching and educating on campus. He expressed the hope that the School's leadership will lead all faculty and students in carrying forward the spirit of persistent endeavor, playing a leading role on the global stage of materials science and technology, and jointly creating new brilliance for China's materials science and technology.
Fig. 5 President WEI Bingbo delivering the speech
4. Address from the International Union of Materials Research Societies
Professor Oliveira reviewed the decisive role that materials science has played since the 20th century in improving the quality of human life. He noted that humanity is entering a new era of artificial intelligence, and that the progress of AI can truly benefit humanity only when accompanied by breakthroughs in materials science and engineering. He called on the materials science community to promote the wider dissemination of scientific and technological achievements for the benefit of all people, and to jointly address global challenges through multilateral and multinational cooperation.
Fig. 6 Prof. Osvaldo N. Oliveira Jr. delivering the speech
Dean's Report and Speeches by Faculty, Alumni, and Student Representatives
Dean's Report
Dean DAI Qing delivered a report titled “Forging Excellence in Materials, Pursuing Quality and Strength,” reviewing the discipline's development across four stages over the past century, interpreting the contemporary meaning of the School's “Forging Excellence in Materials” spirit, introducing the School's current fundamentals, development plan and key initiatives, and outlining its next steps toward industry, toward the future and toward the world.
Fig. 7 Dean DAI Qing delivering the thematic report
Speeches by Faculty, Alumni and Student Representatives
Senior faculty representative Professor DING Wenjiang recalled his more than 50 years of study and work in the School, noting that SJTU materials people share the common trait of “creating useful materials, nurturing useful talents, and solving national problems.” He expressed the hope that all faculty and students would carry forward the fine traditions of their predecessors, adhere to problem orientation, interdisciplinary integration and open cooperation, and create an even brighter future for the School.
Alumni representative CHEN Zhansheng, Deputy Director of the Science and Technology Committee of the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, recalled his journey from an SJTU materials student to a satellite Chief Designer. He noted that the iterative upgrading of new materials systems is an important cornerstone for humanity's peaceful use of space and the joint building of a community with a shared future, and expressed his expectation that the School would anchor itself to frontier and emerging fields, deepen global collaboration and cultivate talents of the era.
Young faculty representative Associate Professor GAO Wenpei shared his personal experience of growing and maturing on the School's platform, while student representative LIU Lanyi shared how she achieved transformation through professional study and innovation practice. The younger generation, carrying forward the patriotic torch passed down by their predecessors, is contributing youthful strength on the new journey of building China into a materials powerhouse.
Fig. 8 Speeches by faculty, alumni and student representatives
Launch of the Blue Book
The Blue Book on the Centenary Development of the Materials Discipline at Shanghai Jiao Tong University was officially released in parallel. Presenting, in the form of data, the overall picture of the discipline's century-long development, it provides a quantitative reference for the development of the discipline.
Fig. 9 Official launch of the Blue Book (from left to right: ZHOU Yingying, LIU Weidong, ZHAI Jinguo, DING Kuiling, DING Wenjiang, ZHANG Di, ZENG Xiaoqin, DAI Qing)
Round-table Discussion on Discipline Development
Hosted by Vice President ZENG Xiaoqin, the round-table discussion on discipline development featured DING Wenjiang, ZHANG Di, XU Haiyang, ZHANG Long, Professor ZHAO Lidong, Dean of the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Beihang University, and HUANG Lujun, Party Secretary of the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Harbin Institute of Technology. They engaged in in-depth discussions on the connotation building of the discipline, the cultivation of top-notch innovative talents, the layout of major research platforms and high-level international cooperation, offering suggestions for the high-quality development of the materials discipline.
Fig. 10 Round-table discussion on discipline development
The 2026 Global Deans Forum on Materials
Opening Remarks
In his opening address, President DING Kuiling stated that SJTU has long adhered to innovation-driven development, continuously deepening its work in fields such as materials science and engineering and advanced manufacturing, achieving notable disciplinary results and steadily rising international rankings. Against the backdrop of an accelerating new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, the university will continue to uphold open cooperation, promote the exchange of talent, knowledge and experience, and enable science and technology to better serve humanity.
Fig. 11 President DING Kuiling addressing the 2026 Global Deans Forum on Materials
Signing of the Initiative
SJTU, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Chulalongkorn University, Tashkent State Technical University, Kazakh-British Technical University, the Mongolian University of Science and Technology, Nazarbayev University and IMDEA Materials Institute jointly signed the Initiative for High-Quality Development of Materials Science and Engineering through Belt and Road Cooperation, pledging to jointly advance international cooperation in the materials discipline.
Fig. 12 Signing of the Initiative for High-Quality Development of Materials Science and Engineering through Belt and Road Cooperation
Keynote Speeches and Sub-forums
During the keynote session, Konstantin Novoselov delivered a report titled “Materials for the Future,” Clare P. Grey delivered “Designing New Materials for a Net-Zero World,” and Professor DENG Tao, Dean of the Graduate School of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, delivered “Bioinspired Thermal Materials.” Drawing on their respective research and practice, the three speakers shared systematic insights on the development paradigm of the materials discipline, the cultivation of original achievements, interdisciplinary integration and postgraduate training.
Fig. 13 Konstantin Novoselov delivering the keynote speech
Fig. 14 Clare P. Grey delivering the keynote speech
Fig. 15 DENG Tao delivering the keynote speech
The Forum also featured five sub-forums held in parallel — Disciplinary Strategy, Research Innovation, Talent Cultivation, International Partnership and Alumni Development. Experts and scholars from from schools/departments of materials science at universities around the world joined the respective sub-forums for in-depth exchanges on disciplinary development pathways, frontier research layout, the building of top-notch innovative talent cultivation systems, the construction of global cooperation networks and alumni collaborative development.
Fig. 16 Sub forums in session
The School of Materials Science and Engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University will continue to remain rooted in frontline practice and serve the nation, gather wisdom from around the world with even greater openness, and promote the high-quality development of the materials discipline with even more solid work, shouldering its responsibility on the new journey of accelerating China’s development into a leading country in materials science and education