Jerusalem, Israel, March 30, 2016 – Ben-Gurion University of
the Negev (BGU), Israel, and Jilin University (JLU), the biggest
university in China, signed an agreement Tuesday to establish a joint
center for entrepreneurship and innovation. The agreement was signed in
the presence of Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong and Israeli Education
Minister Naftali Bennett.
PHOTO: BGU President
Prof. Rivka Carmi and JLU Executive Vice Chairman of the University Council
Prof. Li Cai sign an agreement to establish a joint innovation center during
the conference at the Inbal Hotel in Jerusalem of the Forum of Presidents of
Israel-China Higher Education Institutions on Tuesday afternoon while
Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong and Israeli Education Minister Naftali
Bennett look on. (Photo
Credit: Council For Higher Education) Click on the photo for high
resolution version
BGU President Prof. Rivka Carmi and JLU Executive Vice Chairman of
the University Council Prof. Li Cai signed the agreement in Jerusalem at the
Inbal Hotel during the conference of the Forum of Presidents of Israel-China
Higher Education Institutions, a new initiative of the Israeli Council for
Higher Education.
On Wednesday afternoon, JLU and BGU signed a Memorandum of
Understanding to further extend the collaboration into additional fields
of interest during a visit to BGU’s Marcus Family Campus in Beer-Sheva.
The new joint center will promote academic cooperation in research
and teaching and will serve as a platform to encourage connections between
Chinese and Israeli businesspeople. The agreement emerged through the
cooperation of the universities’ two innovation centers: the Bengis Center for
Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and
Management at BGU and the China-Israel Center for Entrepreneurship and
Innovation in the Faculty of Economics at JLU. The two centers will lead the
activities of the new center as well.
JLU
Executive Vice Chairman of the University Council Prof. Li Cai (center) in
conversation with BGU's Bengis Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Chairperson and Director Prof. Dafna Schwartz (right) during a visit to
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beer-Sheva on Wednesday.
(Photo
Credit: Dani Machlis/BGU)
Click on the photo for high
resolution version
Jilin University is situated in Changchun in Northeast China and
is one of China’s ‘Top Ten’ Universities and also its largest university with
approximately 67,000 students.
“This agreement is another stage in the internationalization of
BGU and exemplifies the University’s commitment to academic excellence,
international ties, and economic growth,” Prof. Carmi declared.
“The agreement is a symbol of a new stage of productive and
innovative collaborations based on our China-Israel Center for
Entrepreneurship and Innovation,” Prof. Cai affirmed during her visit to
BGU.
The first action of the new joint center will be the Global Entrepreneurship and Innovation Conference to be
held May 16, 2016 at BGU. The topic of the conference will be “Entrepreneurship
and Innovation, China-Israel – Challenges and Opportunities.”
Keynote addresses will be delivered by: Nobel Laureate Prof. Dan Shechtman on “Demographics, Technological
Entrepreneurship and the Future of China.”
Mr. Laiwu Zhang,Chairman of China Soft Science Research
Council and Former Minister of Science and Technology.
Mr. Avi Hasson, Chief Scientist of the Ministry of
Economy, Israel.
The evening of May 16, former foreign minister MK Tzipi Livni will
be the guest of honor at a gala dinner.
A delegation of 100 academicians and business people
are expected from China for the May conference.
About BGU
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, founded in 1969, aspires to fulfill
the vision of Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, who
believed that Israel’s bright scientific future lay in the development of
the Negev, Israel's vast southern desert. Today, as it approaches its 50th
anniversary, the University has realized its mandate to teach, conduct
research and drive development in the Negev: close to 20,000 students are
enrolled in six faculties at its campuses in Beer-Sheva, Sede Boqer and
Eilat.
BGU conducts major world-class research in arid zone
research, biotechnology conversion and inter-religious encounters, cyber
security, energy, European politics and society, Hebrew literature, Jewish
thought, nanotechnology, neuroscience, robotics, water and
agriculture, and much more. Thousands of students take part
in community-oriented activities and special tutoring projects while
pursuing academic excellence.
The University welcomes
exciting challenges in innovative fields of research and strives to bring
new opportunities to Beer-Sheva and the Negev