From August 14^th to August 20^th2023, the 4^th Zhejiang University-Columbia University PhD Academic Forum, jointly organized by School of Economics of Zhejiang Universityand the Global Economics and Sustainable DevelopmentResearch Center, was successfully held and concluded. This year the forum focused on sustainable development economics. The entire program lasted for 7 days and took place offline at Columbia University in the United States. A total of 7 doctoral students from Zhejiang University participated in this program.

In the morning of August 15^th, Dr. Henan Chengfrom the Columbia China Education Center, presided over the welcome ceremony and delivered a presentation titled "The Century-Long Symbiotic Relationship in International Exchanges between China and the United States in Graduate Education", which introduced the graduate education systems in China and the United States and the history of exchange between Columbia University and Zhejiang University. In the afternoon, ZJU students had panel talk with Columbia students on research thesis, graduate experiences, and career development.

 From August 15^th to August 19^th, professors from the Columbia Business School delivered lectures on strategic problem-solving, design thinking, social value investment within the consulting and business context, and financial risk management. These lectures provided students with immersive and dynamic learning experience, allowing them to appreciate the unique passion and divergent thinking of Columbia Business School.

 After the lecture and presentations, Professor Evan Picoult, a professor at Columbia Business School and former Managing Director at Citigroup, shared his own experiences to encourage the students. He holds a Ph.D. in experimental particle physics from Columbia University and previously served as an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Columbia. After working for 38 years in the risk management department at Citi Bank, he returned to academia and joined the faculty at Columbia Business School. He advised the students to keep an open mind, not be confined solely to academia but also find the alignment between industry and academia.

During the program, PhD students from Zhejiang University gained firsthand experience of American culture and education, had the chance to visit American local financial enterprise and landmarks.