Harbin University President becomes SPbU Honorary Doctor
A solemn ceremony of awarding the mantle and diploma of the SPbU Honorary Doctor to Yang Baofeng, President of Harbin Medical University, took place at St Petersburg University.
SPbU Rector Nikolay Kropachev noted that the ceremony of conferring this title on Professor Yang Baofeng was a natural result of fruitful cooperation between St Petersburg and Harbin Universities and their many years' work aimed at improving medical education and research in the field of healthcare. The significance of this cooperation cannot be overestimated.
"Today, our universities face serious challenges and much effort has already been made to implement our projects but we still have many practical problems to solve. We are moving gradually, creating the necessary basis for educational projects and research in order to finally achieve our common goal," said Nikolay Kropachev.
I am sure we will be able to expand the list of our joint projects, including those in the field of online education and pharmacology.
SPbU Rector Nikolay Kropachev
Harbin University is a long-time partner of St Petersburg University: they jointly implement quite a range of scientific and educational projects. Thus, in 2016, the universities signed a memorandum on the establishment of a joint biomedical centre.
The decision to confer on Professor Yang an honorary title for outstanding contribution to the development of international cooperation was made by the Academic Council of St Petersburg University in March 2018. The President of Harbin Medical University is an honorary professor of world-renowned universities in Japan, Australia, the United States, Russia, as well as the author of more than 100 works published in the most cited scientific journals of the world.
Nikolay Kropachev highlighted that Yang Baofeng consecrated his life to the service of science and society: under his leadership, China's most important governmental programmes aimed at the development of fundamental interdisciplinary research are being implemented, numerous medications have been developed and tested. Professor Yang has participated in successful studies of oncological and cardiovascular diseases and accumulated a unique experience in pharmacology. Now, Harbin University is eager to share this experience with everyone, including SPbU scientists.
The President of Harbin Medical University said that it was a great honour for him to be awarded the SPbU Honorary Doctor mantle. He has visited Russia more than ten times and each time he came to St Petersburg because of SPbU, an alma mater of many world-famous scientists in the field of physiology and chemistry — for example, Ivan Pavlov and Dmitri Mendeleev. Yang Baofeng said that SPbU would always be in his heart and he would try to unite Russia and China not only as Chairperson of the Russian-Chinese Association of Medical Universities, but also as an honorary doctor of the first university of Russia.
In honour of the new Honorary Doctor of St Petersburg University, an aria from Johann Bach's Cantata No 208 for soprano, two flutes and a harpsichord was performed by the "Musica Universalis" early music ensemble of SPbU.