Recently, USTB’s ‘Tianjin Material Environmental Corrosion Field Station’ and its ‘Belt and Road Initiative - Southeast Asia Environmental Material Corrosion and Protection Field Station’ were officially designated as Ministry of Education Scientific Observation Test Stations.

Scientific Observation Test Stations (aka Test Stations) are official research platforms that engage in field research, experimentation, and training. In order to encourage universities to actively improve their research capacity and talent training programs, the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China carried out an authorization of official Test Stations for the first time this year. 52 Test Stations were officially identified, with 15 universities including USTB being authorized to establish two Test Stations.

The ‘Tianjin Material Environmental Corrosion Field Station’, led by Wu Junsheng from the Institute for Advanced Materials and Technology, was established from the previous Tianjin Soil Corrosion Experimental Station. It is part of a network of research platforms linked for the development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and Bohai Economic Zone, as well as supporting the university’s School of Materials Science and Engineering.

The ‘Belt and Road Initiative - Southeast Asia Environmental Material Corrosion and Protection Field Station’, under the leadership of Zhang Dawei from the Institute for Advanced Materials and Technology, includes 11 posts located in China and partner nations. The Station aims to enhance the university’s study of corrosion effects and promote global cooperation through the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative.