On November 19, 2016, Chen Shiyi, President of Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), was invited to attend the Chinese-Foreign University Presidents Forum hosted by Jinan University (JNU) and delivered a wonderful speech with the theme of “Mission of Emerging Innovative Universities” to celebrate the 110th anniversary of its founding.
Forum scene
Chen Shiyi makes a speech
Emerging Universities Tend to Emerge at the Right Moment
Chen Shiyi expressed warm congratulations to JNU on the 110th anniversary of its founding. He said that JNU was an emerging university 110 years ago and has been on a glorious mission to cultivate talents for overseas Chinese and the Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions since the date it was established. Relocated from Nanjing, the center of the south of the lower reaches of Changjiang River to Jianyang in the north of Fujian, the hometown of the great Chinese educator Zhu Xi, and then from Shanghai, the world financial center, to Guangzhou, the starting port of the Maritime Silk Road, JNU has been adhering to the school running mission of “Advocating education to benefit the people & caring deeply about overseas Chinese”, and playing a pioneer role of its functioning as a university promoted by overseas Chinese and also a Chinese university, both in the modern and contemporary China. “As a matter of fact, each school takes its corresponding historical responsibilities in a specific period of history,” said Mr. Chen Shiyi who thinks each university can be counted as emerging in the era of its establishment. 110 years ago, JNU was an emerging university at that time, and today SUSTech is also an emerging university to which is assigned major responsibilities and that is striving to be the modern torchlight of new ideas and new technologies.
Taking Root in Shenzhen Inspires Confidence
“Beijing is the political and cultural center, Shanghai is the economic center, and Shenzhen is an innovation hub for the scientific and technological industry or China’s Silicon Valley,” said Mr. Chen Shiyi. SUSTech was born in response to the summoning of the times. In the long term, the talents, innovative conditions, good industrial layout, investment of the government in education, and demands for education in Shenzhen all build the fundamentals for SUSTech being grown into an international top-level innovative university, thus enabling SUSTech that is rooted in Shenzhen and emerged at the right time to be full of confidence. Mr. Chen Shiyi said, “We are a truly emerging university, shouldering the historical mission of innovation in Shenzhen and even China.” SUSTech is in a perfect position and hopefully to be China’s Stanford.”
Be One of the World-class Universities in the Future
Chen Shiyi said that what SUSTech needs to do in the future include the following aspects:
First, Clearly Positioning and Solidly Developing. An emerging university should first have a clear understanding of the definition of its own mission. The mission of SUSTech is to serve the construction of an innovative country as well as the building of Shenzhen as a modern, international, innovative city.
Secondly, Focusing on the Frontier Issues and Making Strides in Innovation. SUSTech will go deep into cutting-edge disciplinary sciences to mine talents in technological innovation, play the role of talents in initiative, establish interdisciplinary connections among big data, artificial intelligence, marine affairs, aviation, life, medicine, new materials and other disciplines, and promote lead-type development, striving to build new core technologies and sciences where everyone is on the same starting line.
Thirdly, Creating Emerging Culture and Cultivating Innovative Spirit. An emerging university is required to create emerging culture and cultivate innovative spirit. Mr. Chen Shiyi also introduced our school’s “631” student selection principle and “2+2” cultivation mode.
Chen Shiyi said that SUSTech advocates the school running idea of “Knowledge Creation, Innovation, Entrepreneurship”, integrating all resources and continuously moving forward towards the goal of being an application-oriented, small but excellent, and international university. He also hopes that SUSTech can grow into an emerging innovative university and truly be one of the world-class universities within 25 years.
