【Editor’s Note: In this Dialogue@ZJU edition, we spotlight the contributions of Professor Imran Haider Shamsi from Pakistan and Assistant Professor Hyeon Jeong Lee from South Korea, both revered members of the Zhejiang University community. They both firmly believe that the initiative, grounded in the principles of world peace and fostering international cooperation, holds immense significance for the shared future of mankind. Join us to explore how their insights and efforts are forging new paths in global collaboration and understanding.】
Quotes from the interview
Imran Haider Shamsi
"More than 20 years before, I joined Zhejiang University as a student. And then it was destiny. I kept on working hard, and then finally from a studentship, my journey completed towards being a professor in Zhejiang University."
"Zhejiang University's Belt and Road Crop Science Class, which we also call the Belt and Road Crop Science family. All of us together work for one cause, one clear cause to give the message of working together, developing together in agriculture and education for the development and peace and love in the world. That is the basic concept."
"The Belt and Road. You know, it's not only just project and developing together and we should work together. It's not this. It's part of the Chinese dream. It's a philosophy. It’s a phenomenon of one giant big family together. We are equal to each other, taking care of the peace, love and development in the world without any discrimination. And I think this idea of being a family, and working hard together is a very important part of the Belt and Road Initiative. And we should know the root cause and we should know the deep values and the reasons why such programs were very near initiated to China. We all have a big responsibility."
Hyeon Jeong Lee
"I found that Zhejiang University is a very interdisciplinary institute. It is a very open environment. A lot of PIs like to collaborate and communicate with each other all the time. There are many different seminars organized by different departments, so I would say it is a very open environment, very suitable for collaborative research."
"Research is not an easy task. We often will face different challenges and also a lot of difficulties during the process. The Belt and Road Initiative is the program that’s based on world peace. We’re hoping that there’s more international collaboration between countries to answer global major questions together and help each other. So currently I am trying to promote more international collaborations as well, including attending different conferences all over the world. This type of platform is very helpful for promoting this because people are getting together at these conferences or in this society, focusing on the science and trying to brainstorm together to answer these global issues."