Designed to inspire the next generation of global leaders, Schwarzman Scholars is the most significant program of its kind since the Rhodes Trust was founded in 1902.

The thirteenth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) was recently held in Baku, Azerbaijan. During the Forum, the Research Center for Investment and Financing Policy (IFP) of Tsinghua University and the Cities Investment Facility (CIF) of UN-Habitat jointly organized an Urban Finance Masterclass. More than 70 experts, scholars, and practitioners from different countries and regions participated in discussions on urban housing, project finance, and sustainable development. This event is a major follow-up initiative stemming from the Letter of Intent signed between Tsinghua University and UN-Habitat in 2025.

In May, the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University (Tsinghua SEM) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) officially launched the 2026 cohort of the Emerging Policymakers Program (EPP) at the AIIB Headquarters. The program brings together 40 early-career government officials from 27 emerging and developing economies across Asia, Africa, and Latin America for an intensive three-month capacity-building initiative focused on climate policy, green infrastructure, and sustainable development.

The 2026 International Forum on Carbon Neutrality and Energy System Transformation (CNEST) was held in Beijing from May 20 to 22. The forum was hosted by Tsinghua University and organized by the Tsinghua Institute for Carbon Neutrality.

The research groups led by Professors Lu-Ming Duan, Dong-Ling Deng and Pan-Yu Hou at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Information Sciences (IIIS), Tsinghua University, have experimentally observed dynamical freezing in an interacting solid-state spin ensemble for the first time. Building upon this novel many-body phenomenon, the team developed a new approach to significantly enhance magnetic-field sensing. Their findings were recently published in Nature under the title, “Dynamical freezing for magnetometry in an interacting spin ensemble.”

On May 26, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who is on a state visit to China, visited Tsinghua University and delivered a speech as part of Tsinghua’s Global Vision Lecture Series. Tsinghua University President Li Luming met with President Vucic, attended the speech, and delivered welcoming remarks. Li Ming, Chinese ambassador to the Republic of Serbia, Cao Lei, deputy director-general, the Department of European Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Yan Xuetong, honorary president of the Institute of International Relations, School of Social Sciences, and one of the first Distinguished Professors of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Tsinghua University, attended the event. Yang Bin, vice chancellor of Tsinghua University Council, hosted the speech.

The 64th Capital Universities Track and Field Games took place at Beijing University of Agriculture from May 14 to 17, featuring 85 universities. The Tsinghua University Track and Field Team put on an impressive show throughout the four-day competition.

The 2026 Tsinghua PBCSF Global Finance Forum opened on May 18 in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. Zhou Xiaochuan, vice chairman of the 12th National Committee of the CPPCC and former governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), attended the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote speech at a closed-door meeting held the previous day. Guo Yong, vice chancellor of Tsinghua University Council; Jiao Jie, dean of Tsinghua University PBC School of Finance (Tsinghua PBCSF); and Xie Wei, president of SPD Bank, delivered remarks at the opening ceremony respectively. Zhang Xiaoyan, associate dean and Chair Professor of Tsinghua PBCSF, moderated the opening ceremony.

A research team at Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School (Tsinghua SIGS) has developed a new approach to significantly boost the energy density of lithium-sulfur batteries, potentially enabling drones and other low-altitude aircraft to achieve much longer flight times on a single charge. Their findings were published on May 6, 2026, in Nature under the title "Molecular skeleton programming of premediators in sulfur electrochemistry."

On May 12, a parallel session of the 2026 World Digital Education Conference was held in Hangzhou. The session, themed “Building New Scientific Research Capabilities: Transforming Research Paradigms with AI,” aimed to promote the integration of artificial intelligence into scientific research, strengthen interdisciplinary talent development, and produce high-level scientific intelligence outcomes, providing a high-level platform for exchanges that shape a new AI-driven research ecosystem. More than 170 representatives from 128 education departments, universities, research institutions, and companies across 16 countries and regions attended the session.

The 12th workshop of the Tsinghua–NUS–Southampton Centre for Extreme Search (NExT++) was recently held in Singapore under the theme “Responsible AI”. The event brought together nearly 170 faculty members, students, government officials, and industry representatives from seven countries. The opening ceremony was jointly chaired by the co-directors of NExT++: Professor Sun Maosong of Tsinghua University and Professor Chua Tat-Seng of the National University of Singapore (NUS).

The 2026 China Robot Competition & Robocup China Open was held in Beijing on May 4. Tsinghua University's Hephaestus Team delivered a dominant performance in the Large Size category of the Humanoid Group, overcoming successive opponents to win the championship.

Qiu Yong, secretary of the CPC Tsinghua University Committee, visited the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) from May 2 to 4. Yang Bin, vice chancellor of the University Council, accompanied the delegation.

From April 30 to May 2, Qiu Yong, secretary of the CPC Tsinghua University Committee, led a delegation to Mongolia. The visit aimed to strengthen educational, scientific and technological cooperation as well as people-to-people exchanges between Tsinghua University and Mongolia, and contribute to the advancement of the China-Mongolia comprehensive strategic partnership.

Siddharth Chatterjee, former United Nations resident coordinator in China, was appointed Distinguished Visiting Professor of Tsinghua University at a ceremony held at the School of Public Policy and Management on April 29. Yang Bin, vice chancellor of Tsinghua University Council, presented Chatterjee with the letter of appointment.

On April 26, the 44th "Challenge Cup" Student Extracurricular Academic Science and Technology Exhibition commenced at Tsinghua University, showcasing innovative works by Tsinghua students in a range of cutting-edge fields.

Tsinghua University hosted alumni from around the world for a weekend of reunions on April 26. The event featured various exhibitions, performances, and activities organized by schools and departments of the University.

On April 23, Tsinghua President Li Luming met with Stefan Hartung, chairman of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH. The two sides held discussions on further deepening their cooperation.

On April 23, Tsinghua President Li Luming met with Professor Ulrich Rüdiger, rector of RWTH Aachen University. During the meeting, President Li conferred the title of the Honorary Professor of Tsinghua University upon Professor Rüdiger. The two leaders also signed a memorandum of understanding on strategic partnership between the two universities, and jointly attended the opening ceremony of the Tsinghua – RWTH Aachen Forum on Innovative Talent Development. The ceremony was hosted by Zheng Li, vice chairperson of Tsinghua University Council.

Tsinghua faculty, students, and alumni ran a celebratory 115-lap-relay on April 25, to mark the University’s 115th anniversary.