On May 28, Shandong University's delegation, led by SDU President Fan Liming, paid a visit to the University of Cambridge. An agreement between the two universities was signed to establish the Shandong University School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Innovation Institute in Qingdao. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Fan and Eilis Ferran, Cambridge's Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Institutional and International Relations.
According to the agreement, the two universities will join hands to build an eco-system for entrepreneurship, meaning Cambridge will bring its expertise in commercialization to aid SDU in establishing an enterprise team and share its experience and knowledge in innovation and business start-ups, so as to promote technology transfer processes and encourage entrepreneurship, improve the university campus and support the city's development.
The new school will be supported by Cambridge Enterprise, the University's commercialization arm, Shandong University and Qingdao Municipal Government. The two universities will explore ways to improve interactions, build a world-class institution and cultivate talent. They will also support faculty and students to put their results into practice.
At the signing ceremony, Fan said that innovation and technology transfer are of vital importance to the university's development and its responsibility to give back to society. The signing of the agreement marked an important beginning. With the support of the Qingdao municipal government, the two universities will promote the construction of the School according to the framework and plans that both have agreed upon, with the hope to contribute to the national and local development as well as the cultural exchanges between China and the UK.
Ferran expressed her appreciation to SDU's strong support to the cooperation. She stated that the culture of innovation and technology transfer is a vital part of Cambridge's dynamic cultural system. With excellent expertise in innovation and technology transfer, the University of Cambridge attaches great importance to the cooperation with Shandong University, and she believes that this agreement will deepen the relationship between the two universities and the two countries through the collaboration of universities, enterprises and governments.
The agreement was signed by Sun Fengshou, Director of SDU's Department of International Affairs and Tony Raven, the CEO of Cambridge Enterprise.
The singing ceremony also saw the attendance of Xia Jianhui, the Counsellor of Educational Office of Chinese Embassy to the UK, officials from SDU's Department of Personnel, Institute of Advanced and Interdisciplinary Research at Qingdao and the School of Economics, officials from Cambridge's Center for Advanced Photonics and Electronics, Department of International Relations of Cambridge Enterprise and Office of Strategic partnership.
