The University of Haifa and ECNU University of China have this week officially unveiled a joint campus in Shanghai, the “Joint Technological Institute.”
The new 4,500-square-meter campus is part of the Zizhu International Education Park in Shanghai and will focus on areas of study, including biomedicine, brain science and environmental science.
The Joint Technological Institute is expected to become a global interdisciplinary knowledge base complete with offices, advanced laboratories, computerized classrooms, seminars and personal work spaces, and collaborations for postgraduate students.
This is University of Haifa’s second venture in China, following an agreement last year with Chinese conglomerate the Hangzhou Wahaha Group and the Institute of Automation at the Chinese Academy of Sciences that will see the establishment of three joint artificial-intelligence technology centers constructed in Haifa, Hangzhou and Beijing, with an initial investment of $10 million.
Israel’s Education Minister Naftali Bennett congratulated the joint venture and embraced an initiative that further strengthens the collaboration between Israel and China: “This is a remarkable moment of combining forces between the great Chinese nation and the startup nation of Israel. I think this is a winning formula.”
The unveiling of the new Shanghai campus comes just weeks after the University launched its Lorry I. Lokey City Campus—comprising at least four buildings located throughout the Port of Haifa and the city’s downtown area—drastically expanding its educational reach and becoming one of the key drivers of regional development for the entire north of Israel in the process.
“This is a happy day not only for the University of Haifa, but for Israeli academia and research across the board,” said Professor Ron Robin, president of the University of Haifa. “International academic cooperation between two leading universities will contribute to the economy, image, research and development between our countries. We believe that our cooperation with ECNU will lead to groundbreaking studies in applied science, biostatistics, brain research, behavioral research and more.”
