IU signs deal with Tsinghua U.

A landmark agreement was reached Monday as University officials created a joint partnership with the prestigious Tsinghua University in China during the current IU delegation's trip led by Interim Provost Michael McRobbie. The pact, which was signed at a ceremony in Beijing by McRobbie and Tsinghua Vice President Chen Jining, will establish a cooperative research program that includes student exchanges and collaborations targeting improvements in information technology, said Larry MacIntyre, IU director of media relations. \n"(Tsinghua) is one of the major universities in China," said Patrick O'Meara, dean of international programs. "They have a very high standard of admission, competitive entry requirements and (McRobbie) commonly refers to them as the MIT of China. This (agreement) is of very good interest for IU."\nMcRobbie said in a statement the deal will carry wide-ranging benefits to both the University and the state of Indiana. For IU, he said it will help the University gain funding for information technology and supercomputer research projects and for the state he said he hopes in the future it will bring additional commercial enterprises in the technology industry. \nThe agreement comes at the beginning of the 11-day China visit by McRobbie and the rest of the IU delegation as they will tour various universities, speak with government officials and meet with alumni living in China. \nO'Meara said while IU has signed pacts with other international institutions in the past, this one is "special" given the number of opportunities this opens and IU's and McRobbie's strong interest in improving and conducting research in information technology. \nStrengthening information technology research is by far one of the main frameworks of the agreement as both IU and Tsinghua are leading institutions in that field, and MacIntyre said a partnership between the two will only add to that prestige. He said as IU operates and manages the advanced Internet2 systems at IU-Purdue University Indianapolis it currently provides resources for major universities in America to use the high-speed mechanism for moving data and communicating. This deal will then extend some of those benefits to Asian universities that would like to be part of the network with U.S. institutions. \n"Managing these networks is a complex and difficult matter," McRobbie said in a statement. "IU and Tsinghua both have expertise in these areas, and we want to work together jointly in solving the problems that arise in the operation of international high-performance networks."\nO'Meara also noted the deal was significant because of the exchange program it creates between the two institutions.\nWhile MacIntyre could not say at the time how many students will be involved in such exchanges, he said over time it could translate to a significant number coming to IU and vice versa.\n"As Tsinghua is one of the top (Chinese) universities in the field of information technology this will help bring some of the very best and most promising from all of China (to IU)," he said. "This agreement will enable a lot to get advanced degrees at IU at the graduate level and everyone always wants top-notch graduate students (coming to IU)." \nAnother aspect of the deal that will hopefully help build bridges between IU and the Chinese IT community is a series of planned conferences on issues such as Internet security and developing international standards on how to fight and prevent Internet-based attacks. \n"This will be the way China IT managers and senior people in China can interface and network with their U.S. counterparts," MacIntyre said. "With the cyberworld changing so fast, it needs a lot of interaction and communication between countries and this will be a way do that. \nMacIntyre added that among the numerous benefits the agreement will provide the University, it will help IU secure top incoming graduate students from this country and help with further advancements that will ensure IU continues to be a leader in information technology. \n"The whole field of informatics is still relatively new," MacIntyre said. "It is one of the strengths of IU and this will help it to remain one of our strengths for years to come"