A JOINT Sino-Russian university run by Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU) and the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) will open in the Universiade New Town in Longgang District in September 2016.

    The university, covering an area of 33.37 hectares, will include an administrative zone, a student zone, a campus area, canteens, laboratories and stadiums, according to a development plan, which was presented to a Ministry of Education delegation, which came to the city to review the project on Friday.

    During the preparatory period, the Shenzhen Sports School will be used as an interim campus for teaching and enrollment. A 14-story dormitory that can accommodate 600 students will be built. The buildings in the sports school will be renovated into teaching buildings, libraries and office buildings.

    The university will offer undergraduate degrees, master’s degrees and doctorate degrees, as well as non-degree education, with the languages of instruction being Chinese, English and Russian.

    During the interim period, the university will offer four subjects — applied mathematics, material physics and chemistry, linguistics and economics. In the long-term, the number of students in the university will reach 5,000.

    Students who graduate are expected to receive both an MSU diploma and a Chinese diploma.

    Shenzhen signed a cooperation contract with the two universities in August 2014.

    Founded in 1755, MSU is one of the oldest, largest and most reputable universities in Russia and has produced 11 Nobel Prize laureates. BIT is a prominent university in China that focuses on studies in engineering, materials science, chemistry, physics and mathematics.

    (Han Ximin)