On March 15th, 2018, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the Evonik Industries AG signed the Strategic Cooperation Framework Agreement for the third-round cooperation. The both sides will promote sustained and in-depth development of cooperation. Evonik-SJTU PhD Fund, as an important part of talent cultivation collaboration, will continue to select and sponsor excellent doctoral students who study in chemistry, chemical engineering, materials and other related majors to visit Evonik and prestigious universities in Germany, and to help SJTU cultivate top talents with international perspective.

Through strict resume screening and panel interview, 8 PhD students from the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering (SCCE) and the School of Materials Science and Engineering (SMSE) were selected. After six months of preparation, the winners started an eleven-day trip to Germany on June 11th, 2019. During the trip, the winners visited the factories of Hanau, Essen and Marl and experienced German higher education in the Technical University of Munich(TUM).

At Evonik site in Hanau, students had in-depth knowledge of the Roadmarking Training Center, the Particle Technical Center, the Product Line Analytics, the Metal 3D Printer and the Bio Laboratory. At the Essen site, students displayed their research respectively, had in-depth discussion with Evonik experts and visited the Essen factory. At the Marl site, students visited the factory and Creavis Innovation Center, and were shown around the Biotechnology/Fermantation Lab and the exhibition stands about Sustainable Energy Solutions and Life Cycle Management. 

At TUM, students were immersed in the academic atmosphere of German higher eduction. They joined the classes of Biological NMR, Electrochemistry for Energy Materials, Metal Complexes etc., discussed mechanism and principles with German students and visited MakerSpace of TUM.


Evonik Industries AG is one of the world’s leading specialty chemicals companies, which represents appealing business and innovation. It has about 36000 employees worldwide and its business extends all over 100 countries. The visit not only broadened students’ international perspective, motivated them to reconsider the relationship between research and industry, gave them access to safe, efficient, clean and automatic advanced chemical industry production, but also helped promote talent cultivation of SJTU.