Han Ximin

ximhan@126.com

PARENTS and teachers joined more than 1,486 students in the stadium at Shenzhen University Town in Xili, Nanshan District, yesterday to mark the 2017 convocation of Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) and the 33rd Teachers’ Day.

The number of the students at SUSTech, which was founded in 2012, hit 4,000 with the arrival of the new students, which include some international students.

This year, 18 students from nine countries, including Cambodia, Malaysia, Ukraine and Russia, were admitted to the university, three times more than in 2016.

Janka Komlos, from Hungary, was one of them. She was a top student in high school and is skillful in several languages.

“We all have reasons for coming to SUSTech, to learn, to improve or challenge ourselves. For me, I came here not only to learn biology and chemistry, physics and finance, but to learn about this part of the world, to try something I’ve never tried before,” said Komlos.

Statistics provided by SUSTech show that most of its international students come from Asia and Eastern Europe, and want to study math, finance, computers, physics, biology and environment science.

Chen Shiyi, president of SUSTech, shared some unforgettable moments from the 1,000 days since he was appointed president of the university and expressed his hope that students will aspire higher, lay a good foundation, develop their personality and attain their life purpose.

“It is a once-in-a-lifetime decision to choose SUSTech. We gather here for the dream of running and being a part of a world leading research-oriented university. SUSTech employs devoted world-leading professors and research equipment, and I hope the new students make full use of the advantages and opportunities to chase their dreams and make a difference,” said Chen.

This year’s new students come from 22 provinces and municipalities. They ranked among the top 2 percent in the science part of the National College Entrance Examinations (NCEE) in dozens of provinces and municipalities.

SUSTech will offer 400,000 yuan (US$61,754) to each science student who ranked in the top 200 in the NECC for their respective province, which will enable them to study at one of the world’s top universities as part of a one-year exchange program. Science students who ranked between 201-400 and are enrolled at SUSTech, will receive a 100,000-yuan scholarship.

Shenzhen University also greeted their 6,643 new full-time students across two campuses, one in Xili and the other at Houhai, on Saturday.

The university enrolled 123 students from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan this year. It is the first time the university has enrolled students recommended by Macao high schools. In addition, 10 students were admitted without examinations and six students from Taiwan were enrolled based on interviews.

(Han Ximin)