Dear GEC friends,
As the final days for this term draw to a close, we would like to acknowledge the efforts made by so very many of the staff and faculty in the GEC community during the course of this year. The extraordinary commitment made by all our staff, academic and support staff alike, means that we can continue to succeed and flourish as a learning community. We wish all our friends and families all the very best for the new year holiday and look forward to welcoming you all back, relaxed and refreshed for what promises to be an enjoyable and productive year.
Kind regards,
All GECs
Highlights from Year 2022 at GEC Academy
January
New Strategic Collaboration between GEC and The Center on Chinese Education, Teachers College, Columbia University
We are beyond excited to officially announce that GEC Academy and the Center on Chinese Education, Teachers College, Columbia University (CoCE) have established a new strategic collaboration for international cultural, educational exchanges, and training. Both institutions have agreed upon exploring different forms of cooperation in fields of cultural exchange and training together. Our collaboration seeks to contribute to a better understanding of cross-cultural exchange and effective teaching and learning...
February
The Expert Committee of International Competence Talent Development under the Chinese Society of Educational Development Strategy (CSEDS) signed a cooperation agreement with GEC Academy
GEC Academy and the Expert Committee of International Competency Talent Training under CSEDS held a signing ceremony in Beijing, China. Together, the two parties signed a formal Cooperation Agreement. Under this agreement, two entities will establish a Course Research and Development group to set up courses regarding international competence development. The aim is to design courses focusing on talent cultivation in international competence and to conduct case studies for further developments of relevant courses.
March
SCUT Students Enjoyed the 2022 Winter Overseas Masters Course X Global Competency Course Organized and Designed by GEC Academy
We are very excited to announce that the Overseas Masters Course and Global Competency Course designed for the School of Future Technology at the South China University of Technology (SCUT) have been successfully completed. Organized and designed by GEC Academy, students from the School of Future Technology gave exceptionally positive feedback of the courses they took during the winter vacation in 2022... We can say with confidence that the cooperation between SCUT and GEC Academy in providing the Overseas Masters Course and Global Competency Course was a meaningful and successful attempt.
April
GEC Academy Successfully Held Seminar on Chinese-Foreign Cooperation in Higher Education and Global Competence Cultivation
On April 1, 2022, scholars and experts converged in Chengdu, Sichuan, for an in-depth discussion about the development of Chinese-foreign cooperation in higher education and the innovation in the mechanism of global competence cultivation. Organized and held by GEC Academy, this seminar aims to support universities in fostering communication and cultivating global competitive talents in China…
For the past five years, GEC Academy has been dedicated to international talent training. We plan to continue our efforts focusing on globalization, integrated talent education, research-oriented learning, and technology-driven education for the foreseeable future. And we plan to organize more seminars regularly in the future and contribute to the development of international education.
Opening Ceremony of the Ten-Week Columbia University Program on Instruction and Leadership Development for Faculty Members of Shenzhen University Successfully Launched Last Month
The opening ceremony on March 16th, hosted by Sheng Yan, the academic committee chair of GEC Academy, marked the initiation of the Ten-Week Program on Instruction and Leadership Development designed for Shenzhen University (Shenzhen U). This program lasts for 10 weeks from March 16th to May 25th, with 2 online sessions a week, and a total of 45 Shenzhen U teachers participating in this program…
With the full support and cooperation of all parties, this ten-week program was successfully initiated. The Teachers College of Columbia University and GEC Academy have been preparing for this program for half a year and we are highly confident with the harvests of this program, and we believe that this will be an opportunity to practice the “learn by doing and do by learning” in online teaching, with the methods and concepts brought by the Teachers College of Columbia University.“A single spark can start a prairie fire”, we have faith that the teachers will play a role in teaching, helping and leading to comprehensively promote the full English teaching ability of other teachers at Shenzhen U in the future.
May
GEC 2022 College Admissions Results (Updated on May 1st, 2022)
We are very delighted to take the time in May to congratulate our outstanding students on their exciting 2022 college and university admissions results. They've all put in a lot of effort while attending GEC online research seminars on their path to admission, and we're extremely proud of every one of them. The following statistics are based on students’ feedback we received and do not represent all student admissions results. According to the collected data, in 2022, GEC students received about 1,200 offers, with 874 master program and 338 undergraduate program. They did quite well with schools highlighted in US News & QS World University Rankings.
GEC Academy Always Stands Firmly with Our Employees: Care Package for the Entire GEC Shanghai Team
Last month, another wave of COVID-19 hit Shanghai, resulting in a continuous lockdown in many areas. GEC Academy has hundreds of employees based in Shanghai, who were required to undergo home quarantine temporarily. With the concerns that the unexpected severe pandemic would cause transportation and delivery problems and food shortages, GEC Academy began making preparations for this resurgence of COVID-19 at an early age, contacting local suppliers and delivery personnel to mail a package of fresh food to each employee, some of our partner professors and students in Shanghai. The package includes a variety of vegetables, fruits, and meat products to meet daily demands. At present, the pandemic is still ongoing, and we are constantly paying attention to the health of our faculty in Shanghai.
June
School of Mechanical Engineering Hosts SJTU-GEC Science & Academic Studies Overseas Forum
The School of Mechanical Engineering hosted the Liyuan-GEC Science & Academic Studies Overseas Forum on May 14 and 15, with the aims to broaden students’ horizons, stimulate their innovative thinking, exercise their expression skills, promote the exchange of academic knowledge between teachers and students, help graduate students develop their academic aspirations and achieve outstanding academic results. More than 500 graduate students majoring in mechanical engineering and power engineering from 10 universities including Peking University, Tsinghua University, Beijing Institute of Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Southeast University, Zhejiang University, South China University of Technology, Xi’an Jiao Tong University, and Northwestern Polytechnical University attended this virtual forum.
Online Seminar on the Content Development and Implementation of “Global Competence Development Course” Was Successfully Organized and Held Last Month
On May 22nd, 2022, GEC Academy along with the International Competence Development Committee in the Chinese Society of Educational Development Strategy, organized and held an online seminar on the Content Development and Implementation of the “Global Competence Development Course” Series for further improvements of the courses. We have always been greatly proud of our outstanding team of instructors and this initiative is one of GEC’s attempts to further involve our faculty in GEC’s other projects than project-based learning programs. We are expecting numerously more opportunities such as this one for our faculty in the future. Finally, we would like to convey our gratitude to the several GEC faculty who put great effort into this course series. We want to give special thanks to Professor James Herron, Professor Patrick Baert, Professor Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz, Professor Seth Freeman, Professor Magnus Bernhardsson, and Professor Richard Pettinger for their instructive support in the stage of course development.
July
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Signing Ceremony between Shenzhen University (SZU), the Center on Chinese Education, Teachers College, Columbia University (CoCE), and GEC Advanced Studies Institute (GEC-ASI)
On 28 June 2022, GEC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Shenzhen University (SZU) and the Center on Chinese Education, Teachers College, Columbia University (CoCE) at a virtual signing ceremony officiated by Sheng (Edison) Yan, President of GEC Academy and Executive Director of GEC-Advanced Studies Institute (GEC-ASI). The partnership aims to establish a collaboration between the three institutions for international cultural, educational, and training cooperation. Specifically, GEC will jointly design, facilitate and organize training programs and other academic and cultural exchange activities between Shenzhen University and the Center on Chinese Education, Teachers College, Columbia University.
August
GEC 2022 Synthetic Biology Symposium: Working Together to Promote the Development of Synthetic Biology
In the context of the rapid development and transformation of synthetic biology, on July 17th, 2022, GEC Academy, along with Gansu Provincial Microbiology Society, held its first synthetic biology symposium, inviting industry experts, both domestic and international, to discuss the most recent advances and state-of-the-art technologies in synthetic biology as well as the future trends of China's biotech-industry. The Symposium has brought together a number of experts and scholars from well-known universities and research institutions, including Stanford University School of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Zhejiang University, South China University of Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and Shenzhen University. During the meeting, the key experts shared expertise and discussed specific issues with the audience from different perspectives. Hundreds of high school students who are interested in synthetic biology and/or are considering pursuing a degree in relevant fields were also invited to attend the presentations...