Rhodes Scholars interact face to face with ZJU students

On April 4, seventeen Rhodes Scholars and 17 student representatives from Zhejiang University gathered on the Zijingang Campus for talks and discussions on significant global issues.

Rhodes scholarship was founded by British politician and businessman Cecil Rhodes in 1902. Also known as the Global Nobel Prize for undergraduates, the scholarship aims to finance students from all over the world to study at the University of Oxford and cultivate future world leaders with a strong sense of obligation. It has funded more than 8,000 Rhodes Scholars, including George Ignatieff, President of the UN Security Council, and US President Bill Clinton.

Since the scholarship first landed on the Chinese mainland in 2015, 12 undergraduates from Peking, Tsinghua and Zhejiang universities have received this honor. ZHANG Chunying, a ZJU undergraduate, was one of the first four Chinese Rhodes Scholars.

The talks on Wednesday started with Rhodes Scholars’ sharing of their research. Featured speaker Garrett Lam pointed out that scientific study needs to take social issues into consideration. Likewise, Nadav Lidor, a Rhodes Scholar who used to work for Google, Microsoft, and Viber, is studying the application of machine learning to the level of mental health. Through his study, Nadav hopes to seek greater welfare for humanity.

During the keynote speeches, all Rhodes Scholars stressed the significance of leadership to the new generation and the importance of assuming social responsibility. Inspired by the speeches, both sides had a heated discussion with respect to quality education, environmental protection, sustainable cities and communities, innovation, and poverty alleviation.

The group work of the scholars and students gave birth to numerous ideas of great value. They proposed creative solutions to world’s challenges, while drawing on their own experiences to validate the feasibility of solutions. For instance, a ZJU student reflected on his teaching work in rural areas to demonstrate that educational justice should be in place to empower children to realize their dreams.

“For students from Zhejiang University, the forum is a good platform to exchange ideas with excellent students from around the world. In the process of communication, they would feel the commonalities and uniqueness of different cultures and work hand in hand to propose feasible solutions to global development challenges,” said Ms. XU Ying, deputy director of ZJU’s Office of International Relations.

Before the meeting, the Rhodes Scholars visited the Jack Ma Foundation and ZJU’s History Museum. Among many other highlights, the development of the Internet in Hangzhou drawn the attention of Rhodes Scholars. They believed that the Internet can reduce poverty to a certain extent, as exemplified by Alibaba, which provides small and medium-sized enterprises with space for survival and development.

By: CHEN Qi, TANG Ximeng, student journalists at the Office of International Relations.