Shenzhen Special Zone Daily (Reporters: Xiao Yi and Qi Wei)–On the afternoon of November 18, Ma Xingrui, Deputy Party Secretary of Guangdong Provincial Committee and Party Secretary of Shenzhen Municipal Committee, and Xu Qin, Mayor of Shenzhen, met with a delegation led by Robert Grubbs, a professor of California Institute of Technology and the winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Ma Xingrui and Xu Qin extended their welcome to Prof. Grubbs and briefly introduced the development of the higher education reform and technological innovation in Shenzhen. Ma Xingrui said, the science and technology have played an important role in promoting the socioeconomic development and the progress of human civilization. At present, Shenzhen is maintaining a strong momentum in its economic and social development, and it is leading the country in industrial innovation and technological innovation. However, it still has a long way to go in the development of higher education, the construction of high-level disciplines, and the building of basic research capacity, especially in basic innovation and original innovation.

The Municipal Committee and the Municipal Government will provide strong support for Prof. Grubbs to cooperate with SUSTC in setting up first-class research institutes, building a talent team, promoting the commercialization of technological achievements, establishing high-caliber industry-university-research platforms of new medicine, new materials and new energy, and promoting the cultivation of innovative talents and the construction of a research-oriented university in Shenzhen.

Prof. Grubbs praised the remarkable achievements of Shenzhen in its socioeconomic development in the past 30-plus years since China’s reform and opening up. He expects to join hands with SUSTC in building research institutes and carrying out in-depth cooperation in such fields as polymer materials, green pharmaceutical preparation, new energy and chemical industry. It is also his hope that by taking advantage of the favorable market environment and the innovation and entrepreneurship culture of Shenzhen, the two sides can accelerate the industrialization of scientific and technological achievements and contribute to the construction of high-level disciplines and the development of strategic emerging industries in Shenzhen.

The municipal leaders Guo Yonghang and Wu Yihuan as well as Chairman of SUSTC University Council Li Ming and president of SUSTC Chen Shiyi attended the meeting.

Winner of Nobel Prize in Chemistry Robert Grubbs: Talents are the key to the development of higher education in Shenzhen

Shenzhen Special Zone Daily (Reporter: Qin Xiaoyan)–“Shenzhen has been developing at a stunning pace. In the past 30-plus years it has become a modem metropolis,” said Robert Grubbs, a winner of Nobel Prize in Chemistry during his visit to SUSTC. When interviewed by reporters, he offered his advice on Shenzhen’s development of industries and higher education. He believes that talents are the key to the development of higher education in Shenzhen.

Robert Grubbs is a world famous chemist and the winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. In 1992, he discovered a catalyst that was named after him and is now widely used in chemical, pharmaceutical and energy sectors. With the Grubbs catalyst as the core platform technology, he has set up several high-tech companies, covering new materials, new energy, medical materials and green chemical industry.

“In the past decade of my catalyst study, the modified catalyst is constantly looking for new areas of application. For example, when applied in optical film, it can substantially increase the polymer strength and transparency, thus improving the thermal performance.” Prof. Grubbs disclosed that the latest application of his finding in biomedicine has successfully filled some blanks in the treatment of hepatitis B, so that hepatitis B patients show a very positive therapeutic effect within 90 days of administering the medicine.

Robert Grubbs has been an old friend of China. Since the 1980s, he has visited China many times. In 2013, he was granted the “Friendship Award” by the Chinese government. He is also a “frequent visitor” to Shenzhen and is greatly impressed by its beautiful environment and modern construction. “Shenzhen has a history of just more than 30 years, and its technological development is amazingly fast. In my eyes, Shenzhen is China’s Silicon Valley. It has the natural endowment of Silicon Valley, for it is not fettered with too many conventions. Shenzhen will embark on a smoother road to a modern metropolis.”

On the further development of Shenzhen’s high-tech industries, he believes that Shenzhen should study and evaluate the development potential of basic disciplines before technological research and application development. Only in this way will Shenzhen achieve original frontier discoveries and create opportunities to lead the technological development and produce better products and services.

“The Department of Chemistry of SUSTC has a high starting point. It will play a leading role in the development of the pharmaceutical industry and emerging chemical industry in Shenzhen.” On this visit to Shenzhen, he investigated SUSTC and had a certain understanding of the newly established Department of Chemistry of the young university. He suggested that SUSTC in the construction of disciplines should recruit high-caliber talents while balancing the basic disciplines with and the technological application and commercialization.

Robert Grubbs said, the development of higher education will strongly support the industrial and economic development, which is particularly important for the young city of Shenzhen. In the development of higher education, the key is to recruit the right talents, without whom the development of the university, scientific research and personnel training are impossible. “Shenzhen precisely can attract numerous excellent talents, providing human resources for the development of higher education,” he said.