The Sino-German Centre for Water and Health Research (WATCH) shall expand the existing cooperation between RWTH Aachen University and the corresponding universities in China in order to create a facility at Sichuan University in Chengdu known worldwide in water and health research. By integrating research, education and industry, the partners will guarantee that this facility shall be self sustainable for the long term. WATCH is characterized by broadly based multidisciplinary fundamental and application-oriented research, since four different faculties of the RWTH Aachen University (engineering, natural sciences, economics, and medicine) are involved.
WATCH aims to develop innovative solutions for upcoming environmental challenges in both countries. The organizational structure of WATCH shall ensure that its research work remains independent and that it shall be co-financed by participating private companies if required. There is a great potential for applying results in practice since the industry has been strongly integrated into the research structure. Moreover, the Chinese Ministry of Education (MoE) welcomes and financially supports cooperation of research and industry in the field of water and health. Indeed, there is a great opportunity for the German industry because China requires innovative technologies readily available in Germany.
Part of the visible research platform WATCH is the development of an office infrastructure, which supports the further and new development of joint research approaches for the application of third-party funding projects by relevant funding agencies. WATCH will become a regular institution with Chinese posts in the consolidation phase.