ShanghaiTech University, which was established to help drive China's scientific innovation and contribute to the restructuring and development of the country, recently welcomed its first undergraduates.

A total of 207 undergraduates from nine provinces and cities are enrolled at the small-scale research university. The school was approved by the Education Ministry in September 2013. Jointly established by Shanghai's municipal government and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the school seeks innovative solutions in fields such as energy, the environment and human health.

The first undergraduate class participated in the recent opening ceremony at the university's Zhangjiang campus. University President Jiang Mianheng made a presentation on the Scientific Innovation on Future Energy in China. He said that there is huge demand in information technology and life sciences, and said that the university's mission is to train students to meet those challenges.

Jiang served as vice-president of CAS from 1999 to 2011. He holds a PhD from Drexel University in the United States, and is the son of former president Jiang Zemin Jiang.

The university also welcomed 425 graduate students in its second graduate class. Last year 300 graduate students enrolled.

Shanghai technical welcomes first batch of students

ShanghaiTech focuses on science and engineering and management science in four schools - physical science and technology, information science and technology, life science and technology, entrepreneurship and management - and two research institutes, the Shanghai Institute for Advanced Immunochemical Studies (SIAIS) and the iHuman Institute.

The university is building a faculty of 500 tenure-track professors recruited globally and 500 adjunct professors from CAS

Among the current faculty are three Nobel laureates, three National Academy of Sciences (USA) members, one Royal Society (UK) fellow, 23 academicians from CAS and three academicians from the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE).

In addition to partnering with other top Chinese universities, ShanghaiTech is engaged in extensive collaboration with some of the world's leading universities, including the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Chicago and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The university also is collaborating with domestic and international hi-tech companies on joint research and development and training of students.

wanghongyi@chinadaily.com.cn 

(From China Daily, 2014-10-10)