From December 3 to 16, 2023, the scientific and technological training course “Design and Evaluation Methods of Fire Safety Engineering Materials” for developing countries in “the Belt and Road”, funded by the Bureau of International Cooperation, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and hosted by the State Key Laboratory of Fire Science (SKLFS) of the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), was successfully held and closed in Hefei city, Anhui Province. 34 outstanding researchers in fire safety engineering materials and related research fields from 15 countries along “the Belt and Road”, including Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Egypt, Thailand, Bangladesh, Ghana and Afghanistan, participated in the two-week training course.

Group photo of the opening ceremony of the training course

The opening ceremony of the training course was held on December 5, 2023. Wang Chen, Vice Minister of the Office of International Cooperation of the USTC, and Liu Nai’an, Director of the SKLFS, delivered speeches on behalf of the university and the laboratory, respectively. Prof. Hu Yuan from the SKLFS, who is in charge of the training course, presided over the opening ceremony. The training courses are composed of four parts: (1) the theoretical foundation of technical methods, including the basic principles of fire safety engineering material design and its application in lithium batteries, fiber-reinforced composite materials, and biodegradable polymer materials; (2) the evaluation methods of fire safety engineering materials, which involve on-site understanding of commonly used instruments and their operating procedures; (3) visiting scientific research institutions and enterprises in the field of fire safety engineering materials, including the SKLFS, the Advanced Technology Research Institute of the USTC, the Hefei Public Safety Research Institute of Tsinghua University, and Huitong New Materials Co., Ltd.; and (4) brainstorming, where each trainee combines their own actual situation to explore collaborative research and future prospects in the field of fire safety engineering materials.

Visiting research institutions and enterprises in the field of fire safety engineering materials

Brainstorming of trainees

This training course invited several renowned experts to give wonderful academic lectures, including Prof. Manfred D ö ring from the Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability in Germany, Prof. Baljinder Kandola from the University of Bolton in the UK, Prof. Richard K. K. Yuen from City University of Hong Kong in China, Prof. Fei Bin and Assoc. Prof. Anthony Chun Yin Yuen from Hong Kong Polytechnic University in China, Prof. Zhu Jixin, Prof. Yu Bin, Assoc. Prof. Xing Weiyi, Assoc. Prof. Wang Bibo, Assoc. Prof. Wang Xin, Assoc. Prof. Hu Weizhao and Assoc. Prof. Kan Yongchun from the SKLFS of the USTC.

On site lectures and communication discussions

Through the successful completion of this training course, young researchers from countries along the Belt and Road” recognized the scientific significance and application value of fire safety engineering materials, mastered the basic principles of fire safety engineering materials design and the operating methods of commonly used characterization instruments, and conducted in-depth exchanges on the needs and application fields of fire safety engineering materials in countries along “the Belt and Road”. The prospects of cooperation in the field of fire safety engineering materials research in the Belt and Road area were discussed. The significance of this training course is to promote the cultivation of scientific and technological teams of developing countries along the Belt and Road, which have long-term cooperation with China; introduce the research achievements of China's fire safety engineering materials to developing countries; strive to build a scientific and technological cooperation platform between the SKLFS and developing countries along the Belt and Road; and achieve common scientific and technological progress with developing countries along the Belt and Road.

On December 15, 2023, the closing ceremony of this training course was held. Prof. Dong Qi from the Bureau of International Cooperation of the CAS attended the closing ceremony and issued certificates of completion to the trainees. He congratulated the successful holding and completion of the training course Design and Evaluation Methods of Fire Safety Engineering Materials and looked forward to carrying out more cooperative research, academic exchanges, talent training and other work with developing countries alongside the Belt and Road in the future.

Issue of certificate of completion by the training course

Group photo of the closing ceremony of the training course