Quantum physicist Anton Zeilinger, president of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, and President Chen Jun signed a memorandum of cooperation between Nanjing University and the Austrian academy after detailed discussions on cooperation in quantum physics and other fields during the Austrian president’s visit to Nanjing University in the morning of November 3.

President Chen briefed the guest in Nanjing University’s history in the past 100 years and emphasized that the university always adheres to cultivating talents for society even though it experienced many national calamities.

At present, said Chen, the university’s development focuses on three areas: establishing the best undergraduate education of the country, encouraging teachers and students to conduct the best research in the field, and making contributions to social development.

These efforts have been recognized both at home and abroad, as the university received the Special National Higher Education Teaching Achievement Award in 2014, and it was ranked the 20th of the universities in the world and the second of those in China in the 2016 Nature Index Tables, said Chen.

President Chen hoped that the cooperation with President Zeilinger and the Austrian Academy of Sciences can promote the research in physics and other disciplines at Nanjing University because the research field of President Zeilinger, quantum physics, accords with the research area of Nanjing University’s School of Physics and State Key Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures.

President Zeilinger highly praised the rapid development of theoretical research and practical application of quantum physics in China.

He briefed the history and organization of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and pointed out that one of the academy’s features is that it includes many research areas such as social sciences, natural sciences and engineering, with many interdisciplinary research institutes.

He said that the academy has always attached importance to international exchange and cooperation and expressed his wish to establish a long-term cooperation with Nanjing University.

In the afternoon of November 3, a ceremony was held conferring honorary professorship on President Zeilinger on Gulou Campus.

Wang Zhenlin, head of the university’s human resources department, announced the decision on the appointment, and Vice President Tan Zhemin issued the certificate. Dean of School of Physics Li Jianxin chaired the ceremony.

The ceremony was followed by the Zhongshan Forum Symposium, at which Professor Zeilinger delivered a well-received speech titled “From the Quantum Physics Mystery to Quantum Information Technology.”