ShanghaiTech celebrates achievements in first decade

Ti Gong

ShanghaiTech University prides itself on its achievements over the past decade as it celebrates its 10th birthday.

Jointly founded by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Shanghai government in 2013, ShanghaiTech University is small in scale but aspires to be a renowned research- and innovation-oriented university.

Aimed at nurturing the next generation of innovative scientists, inventors and entrepreneurs, the university is committed to tackling the challenges that China and the world face in the fields of energy, materials, environment, human health, biological engineering, data science, artificial intelligence and electrical engineering.

In the past 10 years, the university that rose from farmland fields has grown to a modern campus featuring a beautiful environment, advanced facilities, and a science and humanities essence, said Jiang Mianheng, president of the young university.

He said that the university's faculty has grown from its first roll of less than 20 to the current more than 1,000 staff, and its number of students from 296 to over 6,000. With its improved education and research capacities, ShanghaiTech University joined China's World-Class University Development Project, and is the youngest university on the list.

All involved were proud of the university's achievements that have resulted from its innovative student education and faculty management systems.

The university boasts a student-centered educational approach. It encourages all students, including undergraduates, to conduct cross-disciplinary research in an international environment and provides them with rich study-abroad opportunities at top universities around the world.

Its tenure-track system is attracting talented faculty with a wealth of experience from all over the world. Currently there are 345 professors on the tenure track, with an average age of 40.

Located in the heart of Shanghai's Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park, ShanghaiTech plays an important role in Shanghai's dedication to maturing as a global innovation center. The university has led or participated in the development of several world-class scientific facilities, such as the Shanghai High Repetition rate XFEL and Extreme light facility, Shanghai Superintense Ultrafast Laser Facility, Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility, and Shanghai Soft X-ray Free Electron Laser Facility. These facilities welcome not only ShanghaiTech staff and students, but also researchers elsewhere in China and internationally.

Currently, there are 378 research groups at ShanghaiTech. As of September 2023, its faculty and students had published over 13,000 papers, including more than 100 in world leading science publications such as Cell, Nature and Science.

Between 2016 and 2023, the university incubated 40 startups founded by faculty and students, transferring their research findings into applications to benefit the world. They have attracted a combination of 1.4 billion yuan (US$195 million) of venture capital investment.

"Though we have already had exciting achievements, we dare not be complacent or slack as there is a long way to go with both predictable and unpredictable challenges," Jiang said.

"But we are always full of expectations and confidence for the future. A new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation is emerging, and the future global innovation landscape is undergoing profound changes. We must grasp the trends of the times and pick up speed to forge ahead. We hope that after several decades, ShanghaiTech will become an excellent university that can make great contributions to the development of our country, the wellbeing of our people and the advancement of all mankind."