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Consul General of Consulate General of Israel in Guangzhou Mr. Yaacov Avrahamy is about to leave his post. In this hot summer, he decided to visit Shantou and the GTIIT campus again before his departure back to Israel. To him, and to his country, this institution has a significant meaning. This is also the project he has been promoting since his role as the Consul General of Consulate General of Israel in Guangzhou. Avrahamy told the reporter that he was glad to see the campus under construction, with teaching buildings springing up. "Everything is as expected, fast and smooth. We hope to welcome the first group of students next September." He said.

According to other reports, Li Kashing first suggested to cooperate with Technion in 2011. In September 2013, Li Kashing Foundation donated 130 million US dollars to Technion. Technion and Shantou University signed a memorandum of cooperation to found GTIIT together. On April 9th, 2015, MOE approved the establishment of GTIIT. On December 16th, 2015, the launching ceremony for GTIIT and Sino-Israeli Innovation Industrial Park was held to create a new innovation cooperation platform on a national level.

What kind of university will this be? From different reports, we get to know the embryo of GTIIT. One thing for sure is, this university is not only the high hopes for cultural exchange between China and Israel, but also will bring Jewish higher education to China.?

Technion locates in Haifa. It has been set as the goal for Israeli high tech and industrial development since its establishment. Its graduates are known as the "Engine of Israeli High Tech and Science Development". Technion is also one of the universities that has most Nobel Prize Winners in Science, amongst is Dr. Aaron Ciechanover, top biologist and chemist in Israel, who will serve as the Vice President of GTIIT. Mr. Avrahamy believes that the presence of Aaron Ciechanover will advance the establishment of biochemistry major in GTIIT and the future PhD program. A big group of experts and professors from different disciplines in Technion will come to Shantou and join this talent team.

As a well-known university, Technion locates on top of a mountainnear Haifa. The campus is very quiet. Most students are either in theclassroom or the labs. President PeretzLavie and Vice President Paul D. Feigin are top professors in the school. They met with the Chinese reporter team in person because it was said that other professors and students were all busy with work in the labs.

Peretz Lavie introduced that the advanced and sophisticated laboratories used in the fields of biochemistry, material science, architecture, electronics technology, etc. in Technion will be applied in GTIIT in the future.

In fact, the cooperation between Technion and Guangdong Province is not only limited in this project. During the process of GTIITestablishment, Technion also starts its international classes for undergraduates, among which some students are from Guangdong Guangya High School and Guangdong Experimental High School, a small number of students are honored postgraduates and PhDs from other cities in China.

"There are not many Chinese students in Technion now. But in the future, we will have more students from Guangdong." PeretzLavie said.

Dialogue

Technion Vice President Paul D. Feigin£º We hope that GTIIT will "grow gradually".

Reporter: The establishment of GTIIT is very exciting. How did this start?

Paul D. Feigin:?Several years ago, Mr. Li Kashing visited Technion and asked for cooperation. Before that, he had investigated many well-known universities and decided to choose Technion for cooperation in the fields of science and technology, which laid a solid foundation for our future collaboration. We are also very happy to share some knowledge in our advanced fields with China through this cooperation. Most importantly, we hope that with the help of this program, we can cultivate some top Chinese students and thus make GTIIT become a symbol of Guangdong Province.?

Based on the consideration of infrastructure and teacher resource etc., GTIIT decides to start student enrollment next September. However, several STU students got full scholarship this year and have started their study in Technion. Currently, we have started to recruit teachers around the world. Some professors from Technion will also join GTIIT in the future.

Reporter: Could you give us some information about GTIIT admission score and tuition fee?

Paul D. Feigin:?Gaokao score and interview will be considered for student enrollment. The specific admission line hasn¡¯t been finalized yet. But one thing for sure, it will be higher than the admission line for South China University of Technology. Tuition fee will be about RMB 90,000 per year, which is relatively high. We do not want some excellent students to miss the opportunity to attend GTIIT because of high tuition fees. Therefore, we also offer top students with full or partial scholarships. Our plan is to enroll 5,000 students within 10 years.

Reporter: 90,000 RMB a year is quite expensive.

Paul D. Feigin:?To some extent, many Chinese parents want their children to receive good education but worry that they cannot adapt to life abroad. If they are in Shantou, the students can receive international education in Guangdong.

In the future, GTIIT will motivate innovation, based on which the university will help students who win scholarships to connect with the market and resources, and thus realize entrepreneurship.?

Reporter: Do you think there will be conflicts on thephilosophy of education between the two countries?

Paul D. Feigin: There might be some. For instance, Technion emphasizes basic research. A lot of the achievements people can see now are based on the fundamental research fifty years ago. However, Chinese government might emphasize more on efficiency, e.g. 5-year project. It is possible that because of this concept, Guangdong Province has invested a large amount of money to purchase basic equipment. In my opinion, I wish that GTIIT can grow slowly and become one of the top international universities, not just because of its large scale.

(Excerpt from New Express Daily, June 22nd)