One of Our Partners In China – The Nanjing Tech University

| By Leon Kirschgens & Jacqueline Plaster

Besides a lot of partners in Europe, the MIX-UP Project also has four international partners in China. During the kick-off meeting in February, Professor Min Jiang gave the welcome and introduction speech and introduced the partner NTU, which is the chinese coordinator of the consortium and therefore overlooks the work carried out in China.

The Nanjing Tech University has a history of more than one hundred years as a cradle of education. Nanjing Tech University has 11 faculties, 28 schools and over 30,000 students. Chemistry, Materials Sciences, Engineering and Biology & Biochemistry are among the top 1% in the world. Nanjing Tech University takes pride in its enormous research strength for it boasts five national scientific research platforms. Nanjing Tech University attaches great importance to the transformation of research achievements and the integration of industry, university and research. Nanjing Tech University has established partnership with more than 70 high-level universities and institutions in over 30 countries and regions in the world.

NTU focusses on engineering, with Prof. Min Jiang being an expert in the discovery and modification of novel enzymes mainly for hydrolysis of natural polymers as lignocellulose and Prof. Weiliang Dong being an expert in the isolation of degradable microbial resources and exploitation of key enzymes for biodegradation of environmental pollutants. In MIX-UP, NTU will pursue the microbial degradation of recalcitrant plastic polymers such as PE and PS as well as the identification of enzymes for PUR degradation and aims to engineer various (thermophilic) PLA-degrading enzymes for higher catalytic efficiency against commercial PLA.