The 2nd Tongji Germany Summer Camp, hosted by Tongji University Undergraduate School and organized by the Tongji SEM German-Sino Center, finished its two-session run in July. Nearly 170 undergraduates from 11 schools across Tongji completed a five-day immersive study tour in Berlin. Covering management, engineering, medicine, environmental science and other diverse majors, participants were divided into cross-disciplinary teams to explore innovative thinking through systematic courses and urban field research.

The camp built a comprehensive teaching system with distinguished faculty from Technische Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Toulouse University. Core modules including Business Model Canvas workshops, design thinking training and smart city seminars combined theoretical frameworks with real Berlin industrial cases. Intensive business challenge training offered engineering students a new perspective: true innovation lies not only in technological superiority, but in feasible commercial value realization. The German problem-oriented, practice-centred teaching concept left a profound impression on all attendees.

Beyond classroom learning, students visited two prestigious local universities to experience Germany’s academic ethos. At Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, they learned about the institution’s century-long legacy as the pioneer of modern university education and its enduring integration of research and teaching. At Technische Universität Berlin, faculty shared Germany’s university operation models, while Tongji alumni from joint double-degree programs shared firsthand experience of cross-cultural study and overseas life.Berlin’s urban landscape served as an open-air classroom for the cohort. While visiting iconic landmarks such as the Victory Column, East Side Gallery and Oberbaum Bridge, students observed the city’s integrated culture of history and creativity from their own disciplinary lenses. Telecom students analyzed AI applications in municipal services, environmental majors researched local waste and water management systems, and management students studied the survival and financing logic of Berlin’s startups.

Breaking barriers between different faculties, cross-major groups delivered closing presentations themed on innovative thinking inspired by Berlin’s experience, showcasing integrated cross-disciplinary insights from the five-day program. As a flagship Sino-German exchange initiative of Tongji, the summer camp further optimized its curriculum and team arrangement this year, focusing more on interdisciplinary integration and academic achievements. It offers undergraduates direct exposure to European higher education and innovation ecosystems, while laying a solid foundation for Tongji’s expanded cooperation with Germany.

Established in November 2024 in Berlin, the German-Sino Center of Tongji SEM is the school’s first physical overseas platform. It unifies teaching, research and student recruitment functions, serving as a key hub to boost educational, economic and cultural communication between China and Germany.