The Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in China has set up its XJTLU Wisdom Lake Academy of Pharmacy.
This institution will also be the home to a variety of research centres, such as the XJTLU-UoL Pharmacology Research Centre and the Pharmaceutical Informatics and Data Science Institute.
The Academy is backed by the University of Liverpool, a parent-school of XJTLU and will also be receiving support from the local Suzhou government as well as multiple partners in the biopharmaceutical industry.
Together, the universities aim to use their expertise to launch the XJTLU Offshore Innovation Centre for Emerging Technologies.
Earlier this year, the institution established the XJTLU Learning Mall, China’s first simultaneously online and onsite ‘learning ecosystem’
XJTLU Academy of Pharmacy plans to enrol 2000 students by 2026
The first set of students will enrol in the University for the academic year beginning 2021, with plans to have 2,000 students by the year 2026.
The Academy will have three departments (Biopharmaceuticals, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacy) which will have six undergraduate programmes, eight masters programmes and will even have doctoral programmes.
Dr Yimin Ding, Vice President of XJTLU, said: “The biopharmaceutical industry is one of the fastest-growing sectors worldwide. It is also an exciting industry – with the development of artificial intelligence and nanotechnology, there’s a lot of opportunity for cross-discipline cooperation in the field.”
New academy’s key areas of research will include Artificial Intelligence
Research at the academy will mainly focus on AI and pharmaceutics, novel therapeutic drug and strategy development, and clinical pharmacy.
Professor Youmin Xi, Executive President of XJTLU, believes that it is time for universities to redefine themselves and change the way they interact with the community and society.
Xi considers the current XJTLU as Version 1.0, a traditional university, and stated: “The second version is based on attracting industry resources and external resources into the University to create a new education model that integrates knowledge from different disciplines. We developed XJTLU Entrepreneur College (Taicang) as XJTLU Version 2.0.
“The third version is where universities leverage society and society’s resources to create lifelong, interest-driven learning, innovation and entrepreneurship. With the launch of the Academy of Pharmacy, we’re getting ready for XJTLU Version 3.0.”
Pic: Xian Jiaotong – Liverpool University
Zahra Hamdani is an Ireland-based reporter for Global Education Times who focuses on European and South Asian education news. When she is not writing for GET News, Zahra is a school-teacher and educationist with experience in both Primary and Secondary schools in the Republic of Ireland as well as in Pakistan.
You can reach Zahra at zahra@globaleducationtimes.org
