SOUTHERN University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), a fast-rising Shenzhen-based public research university, will set up the Southern Industrial Technology Research Institute in Bao’an District.

Preparatory work on the establishment of the new facility is going smoothly, according to a meeting between Bao’an Party chief Yao Ren and a delegation led by the university’s president Chen Shiyi on June 7.

They agreed that the institute should make full use of the university’s strength in scientific research and Bao’an’s advantageous geographical location, as a core of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as well as an established industrial base, to build itself into a teaching and research base that serves as a new driver for the takeoff of Bao’an’s manufacturing and scientific innovation.

The institute will highlight high-end industries, including new materials, integrated circuits and AI, and function as an incubator.

The project is part of a strategic framework agreement signed between SUSTech and Bao’an District Government, in which both sides agreed to enhance collaboration in science, education and talent training over the next three to five years.

In the “Nature (journal) Index 2016 Rising Stars” rankings, SUSTech was ranked 62nd among the 100 top global institutions with the most significant growth in high-quality research publications, and ranked as the third fastest growing institution in the world.

SUSTech’s mission since its launch in 2011 has been reforming higher education in China. By taking a pioneering and innovative approach, it has widely been regarded as collectively moving the higher education sector forward to match the needs of China and its educational role on a global scale.

In 2012, the Ministry of Education endorsed and acknowledged the university as a platform for experimenting with higher education reform in China.

(SD News)