The Tongji Center for Polar and Ocean Studies (hereinafter referred to as “the Center”) was founded in September 2009. As one of the 4 centers for national and regional studies under the Institute for China & World Studies of Tongji University, the Center was filed with the Ministry of Education in 2017. It is a pioneering academic institution at domestic universities that focuses on comprehensive and special research on international politics, law, security, society, environment and economy as well as China’s polar strategies and policies in the Arctic and Antarctic regions.

Professor Xia Liping served as Director of the Center. Professor Wang Pinxian, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is appointed as Director of the Academic Committee of the Center, and Professor Su Ge, former Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the Republic of Iceland, is appointed as Advisor to the Center. There are now 8 full-time researchers on campus and 11 part-time researchers off campus, forming an international, interdisciplinary research team with expertise in liberal arts, science and engineering.

1. Positioning

The Center has built an elite research team upon a wealth of polar research resources, seeking to enhance scientific research exchanges and cooperation with relevant institutions at home and abroad. With the support of UNEP-Tongji Institute of Environment for Sustainable Development (IESD), the School of Ocean and Earth Science, Das Chinesisch-Deutsche Hochschulkolleg (CDHK), l’Institut franco-chinois d’ingénierie et de management, the Sino-Italian Campus, the Sino-Finnish Centre, the Sino-Spanish Campus, the College of Environmental Science and Engineering, the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, the College of Civil Engineering, the Law School, and the School of Economics and Management at Tongji University, the Center is able to leverage Tongji’s advantages in sciences and engineering such as marine science and environmental science to achieve interdisciplinary research that integrates liberal arts, science and engineering. The Center’s research covers the United States, Canada, Russia, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Sweden, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, New Zealand and Australia, etc.

2. Mission and Goals

The mission of the Center is to conduct research on the traditional and non-traditional security threats caused by changes in polar international organizations, the polar region and its adjacent marine environment. Research directions mainly include international mechanisms for the polar region, polar security and economic trends, acquisition of polar resources and energy, and opening of the Arctic shipping routes. Focusing on the medium and long-term strategic development issues in the international polar and ocean studies, the Center seeks to make breakthroughs in several research directions including polar governance, Arctic shipping safety, polar politics and security, polar policies by country, and protection of polar social, environmental, economic and maritime rights and interests. The Center has established an international, interdisciplinary collaborative research team across academia and policy-making departments, to provide a public research platform. It will further improve the flow of researchers, open research and teaching resources, develop a postgraduate cultivation system geared to international standards, and shape a visiting system for the world’s first-rate talents. To meet the strategic needs of China and Shanghai, the Center looks into the application countermeasures to provide Tongji’s advice and proposals on major issues in the polar and ocean international relations. It also endeavors to make contributions to the cultivation of top talents in polar strategy and policy.

3. Development Thought

With a focus on national and regional studies, the Center takes advantage of Tongji’s strong background in science and engineering to complement the respective advantages of liberal arts, science and engineering. With the help of experts and scholars of polar and ocean studies at home and abroad, and under the new model and mechanism of collaborative innovation, the Center will build it into a domestically first-class and internationally renowned research base for polar and ocean studies, a top-notch talent training base, and an international research alliance.

The Center actively carries out all-round, strategic and forward-looking research on application countermeasures, strives to cultivate national and regional research talents, and conduct productive research on the policy and strategy issues relevant to the development of China’s polar and marine programs.

4. Leadership Team

Director: Xia Liping

Deputy Director: Pan Min

Director of the Academic Committee: Academician Wang Pinxian

Advisor: Ambassador Su Ge