On July 2, 2025, Dou Xiankang, President of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), met with a delegation led by Professor Andreas Timm-Giel, President of Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Germany. The two sides exchanged views on strengthening China-Germany university collaboration in fundamental science.

President Dou extended a warm welcome to President Timm-Giel and introduced NSFC’s reform initiatives in talent development and international cooperation. He noted that NSFC places great emphasis on international collaboration, continuously expanding its openness and integrating into the global innovation network. To date, NSFC has signed cooperation agreements with 106  science funding organizations and research institutions across 54 countries and regions. President Dou emphasized that China-Europe cooperation, particularly between China and Germany, plays a crucial role in NSFC’s new framework for international collaboration in fundamental science. Therefore, NSFC is willing to work with TUHH to further enhance academic exchanges and joint talent cultivation between Chinese and German, as well as broader European universities, taking the opportunity of the 50th anniversary of China-EU diplomatic relations and the 25th anniversary of the Sino-German Center for Research Promotion (SGC). President Dou also invited President Timm-Giel to attend the SGC’s 25th-anniversary celebration and the China-Germany University Presidents’ Forum, to be held in China this October.

President Timm-Giel expressed appreciation for NSFC’s reform efforts and thanked President Dou for the invitation. He noted that TUHH, as one of Germany’s youngest technical universities, excels in engineering sciences, interdisciplinary research, technology transfer, and internationalization. He expressed hope that this visit would serve as an opportunity for TUHH to play a more active role in China-Germany scientific and technological innovation cooperation.