Anna Zhao

    anna.whizh@yahoo.com

    TWO Shenzhen institutes will team up with the University of Copenhagen in Denmark to build a specialized college focused on cultivating talents in the life sciences and genetics in Shenzhen.

    Shenzhen-based genomic sequencing giant BGI and the South University of Science and Technology of China (SUSTC) inked a cooperation agreement with the Danish university Thursday, with Shenzhen Major Xu Qin and other officials as witnesses.

    Details regarding the college’s opening time and education capacity are still under negotiation, but its faculty is expected to be comprised of elites drawn from the three parties and their partners with top-ranking qualifications. The college aims to provide internationalized teaching methods, with courses given in English at all degree levels, from undergraduate to postdoctorate programs, according to the three parties.

    Xu said the collaboration, an internationalized education initiative, would promote cultural and technological exchanges between the two countries and cultivate high-end talents in the biotechnology and health sectors.

    The college will be expected to utilize the three parties’ strengths in education, research and industrial application.

    Thomas Bjornholm, vice president of the University of Copenhagen, said his university, with 500-odd years of tradition in the life sciences, is happy to extend its strength to Shenzhen. The university has already worked with BGI in the past. “We hope it will be a fruitful collaboration that carries a lot of promise for future development in the health science area, agriculture and diagnostics,” Bjornholm said.

    Karsten Kristiansen, dean of the university’s biology department, called the cooperation the fruit of long-lasting relations between Denmark and China. He said while cultural differences can be obstacles in international cooperation, the more than 20-year partnership between the two countries will foster smooth teamwork, not only towards economic aims, but also based on their shared interest in science, specifically the transformation of scientific research into real products that serve society.

    Wang Jun, president of BGI, said the collaboration is of great significance and shows an alliance between the two giants, given BGI’s leading position in global genomics research, the academic excellence in the life sciences at the University of Copenhagen and SUSTC’s pioneering spirit on education reform and the pursuit of innovation.

    The college is expected to be built into an institute that integrates education, research and industrial incubation into genomics and biotechnology, Wang said.