Incubator, top science university gets start

The city broke ground yesterday on its newest school of higher learning, ShanghaiTech University, which will not only train top-level professionals but also act as an incubator for students to start new businesses.

The university in Zhangjiang Hi-tech Park in the Pudong New Area will work with the Chinese Academy of Sciences to train the country's top-level scientists and scientific professionals who can create innovative enterprises, officials said.

"We want to build it into the Silicon Valley in China," said Yin Jie, vice director of the Shanghai Education Commission.

"Different from a traditional college, the university will explore innovative methods in teaching and research and offer good business opportunities for students," Yin said.

The university will recruit postgraduate students in 2013 and undergraduate students in 2014. Established by the Shanghai government and the CAS, the university will have an annual recruitment quota for 4,000 postgraduate students and 2,000 undergraduates.