Recently, a delegation led by Tony Raven, CEO of Cambridge Enterprise and David Gill, CEO of St John's Innovation Center, Cambridge visited Shandong University, Qingdao. Fan Liming, president of SDU, and Zhang Yongbing, Deputy Secretary of CPC Committee of Shandong University attended the activities. During the visit, the delegation attended nearly twenty meetings with SDU teachers and students, representatives from departments of Shibei District, head of the Hisense Group, and SDU alumni discuss the issues centering around discipline development of innovation intermediary and talent cultivation.
On Nov.10, the delegation attended the Inaugural Meeting of SDU Council of School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the first working meeting, at which President Fan attended. The meeting adopted Statute and Resolution of the Council, reaching consensus for future work.
On Nov.13, in the work meeting with Tan Baocai, Vice-President of Qingdao Campus and Dean of School of Life Sciences, Shirley Jamieson, Head of Marketing and External Relations at Cambridge Enterprise, University of Cambridge, elucidated Three-year Work Plan and eight main tasks that were made by the University of Cambridge for School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Tan stated the advantages of SDU and Qingdao city, and extended his hope of promoting discipline construction and improving entrepreneurial ecosystem by means of drawing on experience and support provided by University of Cambridge. The two sides reached consensus that concerted efforts with government, enterprises, and educational institutions are needed to advance innovation and entrepreneurship. Both sides will strengthen in-depth exchanges in humanities and social science through this platform.
During the visit, the delegation met with teacher and student representatives and faculty staffs, and shared their experience on technology transfer, interdisciplinary study, engagement of increasing alumni in teaching and technology transfer, innovative method used in teaching, establishment of an ecosystem for entrepreneurship, innovation course design for students, selection of activity base and performance in college students entrepreneurship competitions. The delegation also met and discussed with SDU Qingdao Alumni Association and head of the related departments of Shibei District on alumni work, start-ups, policy support for incubators, entrepreneurship foundation operation mechanism and pattern, etc. All parties presented hope that overall quality of entrepreneurs, high-level entrepreneurs in particular can be enhanced through co-training by the University of Cambridge and SDU.
On the morning of Nov. 16, the delegation from Cambridge and administrative staff from Qingdao Campus attended the meeting, where administration mechanism and innovation transfer experience were shared. Tony Raven introduced in detail how the University of Cambridge promoted its latest scientific research results and transfer intellectual property rights and other scientific results by means of technology consulting, technology transfer service. Zhang expressed his hope to expand channels for bilateral exchanges, to explore new transformation models for scientific and technological achievements made on campus, and to fuel the strategy of SDU in serving the local. The attendants exchanged their views on compulsory course teaching, teacher assessment system, talent introduction, management, etc.
The delegation also visited the Experimental Primary School Affiliated to Shandong University (Qingdao), Qingdao Doctor Pioneer Park (Shibei), Hisense Group, SDU Innovation Transformation Demonstration Base, and Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship which is under construction on Qingdao Campus. Alex Smeets, Head of Marketing and External Relations at Cambridge Enterprise, University of Cambridge, person in charge of the SDU School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, teachers and staffs took part in relative activities.
Established in 2017 at Qingdao campus, School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship of SDU was jointly constructed by the University of Cambridge and Qingdao Municipal Government with an aim to pioneering in theoretical building of innovation intermediary discipline, cultivate creative talents that the nation needs, set up a platform and a think tank for innovation transformation, promote in-depth integration of policies, industries, and researches and to fulfill the education mission of serving the society. In July, 2018, the government of Shibei District, the University of Cambridge and SDU signed trilateral agreement on the program of building ecosystem for entrepreneurship, aiming to bring in advanced concepts and experience of Cambridge in innovation transformation so as to explore an innovation transformation path which is fit for China’s situation and build an innovation ecosystem reflecting the reality of SDU and Qingdao.
