President Freddy Boey Yin Chiang (third from right), Professor Chen Fu-rong (second from right) and Professor Raymond Chan Hon-fu, Dean of the CityU College of Science (first from right), accompanied by Professor Duan Xianzhong, President of Hunan University (fourth from right), visit Hunan University.
Life sciences, new materials and computer science will prosper under a proposed joint Innovation Research Institute following the signing of an MoU in the summer of 2023 between CityU and the Changsha Government at the Changsha Global Research and Development Centre.
According to the MoU, CityU and the Changsha Municipal People’s Government will establish the CityU Innovation Research Institute, offer “3+1+1” degree programmes, jointly build a platform to nurture postgraduates, build major scientific and technological infrastructure and promote the application of scientific research results. Joint laboratories and university-enterprise cooperation will also be enhanced.
President Freddy Boey of CityU said he believed universities have two critical assets: intellectual property and talent. He expressed his hope that CityU and Changsha will walk hand-in-hand to create a chain consisting of talent, technology, capital and markets for entrepreneurs, which will facilitate the incubation of start-ups.
“Changsha is striving to enhance the living environment and infrastructure to build a global research and development centre. I’m very excited about this opportunity for CityU to set up an innovation research institute here,” he said. “I hope that the Centre will strengthen cooperation in various areas and nurture talent in light of the development needs of Changsha and facilitate the city’s development into a key science and technology base for Greater Bay Area start-ups.”
President Boey was the only higher-education institution representative from outside mainland China invited to deliver a keynote speech and share his insights on innovation and technology at an event held at the Changsha Global Research and Development Centre.
President Boey and the CityU delegation also visited Hunan University, and attended a conference in Yuelu Mountain University Science and Technology Town to discuss the development of innovation and technology.
