The one-week summer school from July 20 to 24, 2020 for international postgraduate students in atmospheric environmental science was a complete success. This international summer school was jointly sponsored by Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the University of Leeds, and was undertaken by the School of Environmental Science and Engineering of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. It attracted 65 postgraduates from 19 schools in 5 countries. Due to the impact of COVID-19, this course was taught and taken via online platform.

At the opening ceremony, Professor Geng Yong, Dean of the School of Environmental Science and Engineering of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, first gave a welcome speech. On behalf of the School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Geng Yong expressed his warm welcome and heartfelt gratitude to all the professors and students for their participation, and proposed that under the current situation of COVID-19, the two parties should pay more attention to scientific research on environment and strengthen the international scientific cooperation in related fields.

Soon afterwards, Professor Dwayne Heard from the University of Leeds briefly introduced the background and purpose of the summer school, pointing out that photochemical oxidation has played a major part in China’s air pollution, and it is necessary that we should dedicate more research on the source and change of atmospheric oxidants.

During the summer school, 13 professors from Fudan University, University of Leeds, Peking University, Nanjing University, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, including Professor Wang Lin, Professor Dwayne Heard, and Researcher Lu Keding, gave lectures on their own research fields. Topics have covered new atmospheric particle formation, heterogeneous and multiphase chemistry of atmospheric aerosols, nitrogen oxide chemistry, atmospheric free radical chemistry, machine learning's promotion of atmospheric chemistry models, and China’s environmental-economic-health model. The graduate students took fairly active participation in the discussions after the lectures.

At the closing ceremony, Associate Professor Zhao Yue from the School of Environmental Science and Engineering of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the person in charge of the summer school, expressed his gratitude to the teachers and students who participated in the course, and encouraged the discussion among students and teachers on issues where they still have doubts. Professor Dwayne Heard from the University of Leeds then expressed his gratitude to the School of Environmental Science and Engineering of Shanghai Jiao Tong University for organizing this postgraduate summer school, and hoped that the in-depth communication and cooperation between the two universities could continue.

The successfully held 2020 International Postgraduate Summer School for Atmospheric Environmental Sciences has received strong support from the Graduate School of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and its fraternal institutions. Not only did this event strengthen the exchange and cooperation among universities from different countries, it also expanded the depth and breath of the students’ understanding towards environmental and atmospheric sciences and enhanced the international reputation of Shanghai Jiao Tong University with its influence in the fields of environmental and atmospheric sciences.