Guangdong Technion – Israel Institute of Technology (GTIIT) held an opening ceremony to welcome new students for the academic year 2023-24 this morning. Witnessed by their families and teachers, all the new students gathered at GTIIT South Campus Gym to share the important moment.

Leaders and guests attending the ceremony include: Prof. Gong Xingao, Chancellor of GTIIT and Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences; Mr. Huang Huiyang, member of GTIIT Board and former Vice Director of Standing Committee of Shantou Municipal People's Congress; Prof. Liu Wenhua, member of GTIIT Board and Vice-President of Shantou University; Dr. Frieda Law, Advisor of the Li Ka Shing Foundation; directors from Shantou Science and Technology Bureau, Shantou Education Bureau and Shantou Housing and Urban-rural Development Bureau; representatives of faculty and staff of GTIIT. The ceremony was presided by Prof. Lin Danming, Pro-Vice Chancellor of GTIIT.

PVC Lin Presided the Ceremony

Prof. Gong Xingao, Chancellor of GTIIT and Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences extended a warm welcome to the freshmen and expressed his expectations to them. He said, “College is not a continuation of high school, but a fresh start. It means that the realization of excellence in college, especially in GTIIT which is a Sino-foreign cooperative educational institution endowed with Israel DNA and Jewish education, requires a flexible mind, proactive attitudes, bravery in questioning and innovative spirits.”

Prof. Eli Aljadeff, faculty representative and Head of GTIIT Mathematics with Computer Science (MCS) Program gave an address. He said that the undergraduate education would be one of the most important phases of life, and also the phase where the freshman students could have an opportunity to choose what they will do in a very substantial part of their time. He pointed out that most of the GTIIT lecturers are also researchers. They not only carry on "creating knowledge", but also "transfer the knowledge". "We, the teachers, are the ones that will test you, grade your exams, assess your performance, and at the same time will make any effort so that you are successful. This may sound like a contradiction, but the combination of these two is the essence of our work here," he said. He encouraged the students to find the motivation, learn to group work and take the courage to ask questions.

Zeng Xianle, GTIIT senior student representative, shared his answers to the question “Why do you want to go to college?” that he discovered during the first two years. His mindset had been changed after an in-depth talk with the professor about his low performance in a test. “The professor taught me about the essence behind the knowledge and how mathematical theorems were created. This change in mindset helped me appreciate the beauty behind the knowledge and made my study easier and more enjoyable,” he shared.

Wu Yizhe, the freshman representative who was successfully admitted to the GTIIT MCS program, shared his feelings and expectations for the next four years. He said that he felt his dream was coming true when he met excellent peers and started to explore the new academic fields in GTIIT.

This year marks the first year of the comprehensive interconnection of GTIIT's North and South campuses and the 10th anniversary of signing the first cooperative memorandum when GTIIT was founded. It is also a year of stepwise growth in enrollment after the Covid-19 period. In 2023, the university admitted 531 students through the college entrance examination, further expanding the student base, significantly improving the quality of student sources, and rapidly improving the university's reputation. The outstanding cohort of 2023 students will inject vitality into the new campus and lay a solid foundation for the university's talent cultivation work.

There is no end to learning. The cohort 2023 students, with the anticipation from their families, teachers and friends, are about to start a new journey in GTIIT, to pursue truth and knowledge here. We hope that you can enjoy your time and practice the motto “Dream It. Do It” in the coming four years.