On the morning of September 21, Tsinghua University hosted a prestigious event, conferring an honorary doctorate upon Professor Joachim Frank, the recipient of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Prior to the conferment ceremony, Tsinghua Vice President Wang Hongwei met with Professor Frank, extended a warm welcome and congratulated him on behalf of Tsinghua University. During their discussion, Wang and Frank reflected on past collaborations and exchanged views on further strengthening cooperation in areas such as academic development, talent cultivation, and scientific research.

During the conferment ceremony, Wang presented Frank with the degree certificate.

In his address, Wang highlighted Frank's role in mentoring numerous outstanding experts in the field of cryo-electron microscopy. Some of these experts contributed to the establishment of Tsinghua University's cryo-electron microscopy facility. Over the years, Frank has maintained close academic exchanges and cooperation with Tsinghua University. Wang also emphasized Tsinghua University's commitment to advancing its 2030 global strategy, through which it aims to elevate international collaboration to new heights and build a more open, integrated, and resilient institution. The conferral of the honorary doctorate upon Frank is expected to further propel the development of Tsinghua's cryo-electron microscopy team, bolster academic research, enhance the global competitiveness of Tsinghua's structural biology discipline, and increase the international influence of related institutions of Tsinghua in the fields of structural biology research and biomedical science.

Frank expressed his delight at being awarded an honorary doctorate from Tsinghua University and welcomed the opportunity to further advance academic collaboration and exchange with Tsinghua University in the future.

Following the conferment ceremony, Frank delivered a Tsinghua Global Vision Lecture titled "The Determination of Molecular Motion by Cryo-Electron Microscopy."

Following the lecture, Frank fielded questions from the attending faculty and students.

Frank, born in 1940, is a distinguished German-American biophysicist and currently serves as a professor of Columbia University. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Academy of Microbiology. He has received the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2017.

Editor: Li Han