The inauguration ceremony for Great Bay University (GBU) took place in Dongguan, Guangdong province, on Saturday, attended by more than 600 guests. Despite being established earlier this year, the university is already anticipated to supply talent to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and accelerate the development of new quality productive forces, technological innovation, and emerging industries.
At the inauguration ceremony, founding president Tian Gang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, stated that GBU has adopted an innovative education model where freshmen enroll without declaring a major, allowing a year for self-exploration. From their second year, students can freely select majors based on talents and interests, with cross-disciplinary minor programs available. Tian emphasized that GBU defines itself as a "science and engineering-based, small yet elite, high-level research-focused institution".
Leveraging the GBA's advantages, the university will concentrate on six disciplines—materials science, advanced engineering, life sciences, information science and technology, fundamental science, and financial management—to nurture research-oriented talent capable of solving complex problems and driving innovation. GBU has launched joint graduate programs with institutions including The Chinese University of Hong Kong, the University of Macau, Harbin Institute of Technology, Southern University of Science and Technology, and Sun Yat-sen University. It has also established collaborative research centers with Hong Kong universities to build an innovation network across the GBA.
The campus near Songshan Lake is situated in the pilot zone of the GBA's Comprehensive National Science Center, adjacent to key facilities like the China Spallation Neutron Source and the Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, with major enterprises such as Huawei operating nearby. The Ministry of Education approved its establishment on June 19, and operations began in August, enrolling the first cohort of 80 students from 53 middle schools across 16 cities in Guangdong province.
Tian revealed that GBU is recruiting globally and has over 300 research faculty members, all holding doctoral degrees, with more than 70 percent having overseas study or work experience. Experts like Wang Shuguo, president of Fuyao University of Science and Technology in Fujian, noted that the new technological revolution is spawning emerging research university models, with GBU set to integrate deeply with industry to support high-level technological self-reliance.