CUHK-Shenzhen Hosts 2019 Bachelor’s Degree Graduation Ceremony

On Saturday, May 18, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen hosted its annual Graduation Ceremony to honour more than 500 students who earned their bachelor's degree in 2019. In the company of their peers, families and friends, the graduates celebrated the culminating moment in their four years of academic pursuits.

Prof. Ada Yonath, the 2009 Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry, attended the ceremony along with Professor Yangsheng Xu, President of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, members of the Governing Board and senior administrators of the University.

Assistant Vice President Prof. Yang Gu introduced distinguished members of the Procession

The Governing Board Chairman, Professor Rocky S. Tuan giving congratulations and encouragement through video

The Governing Board Chairman, Professor Rocky S. Tuan, extended sincere congratulations to the graduates on their successful completion of the degree through a specially recorded video. In this video, Prof. Tuan encouraged the graduates to stick to the belief of honesty, accept the challenge with confidence and courage, and make breakthroughs constantly.

Additionally, Prof. Tuan highlighted the bright future of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, and encouraged the graduates to join in and contribute to the betterment of this area. 

Nobel Laureate Prof. Ada Yonath brings inspirations and insights by sharing her research experience

Prof. Ada Yonath, 2009 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Gave Keynote Speech

Prof. Ada Yonath, 2009 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, served as the keynote speaker at the graduation ceremony.  She is the first female Nobel Prize winner in Israeli history, as well as the world’s second in chemistry.

By introducing her great discovery in antibiotics, Prof. Yonath encouraged the students to uncover unknown realms through studying basic science.

"For my own research, I'm trying to understand how the genetics is being expressed in many lives. It’s known that the genetics is in DNA and DNA was discovered when I was a young scientist. Also, the language was already understood, the genetic language, the protein language, but not how it is being translated from the genes to the proteins."

"Now we not only got the structures, we also understand how antibiotics work. And it is a very important finding. Because we also understand how there is resistance to antibiotics. And that's a very difficult and important problem in modern medicine. We spent years on understanding the structure of ribosomes. We found the answers and now we are working on better antibiotics."

After the speech, Prof. Yonath presented Presidential Awards for Outstanding Students to six graduates who stood out among their cohorts with excellent academic performance, delicated leadership and contribution to the development of the University. The six students are Allen Chen, from SME and Diligentia College, Gigi Chen, from SME and Shaw College, Yang Jinjing, from SME and Shaw College, Gong Kang, from SSE and Diligentia College,  Li Jie, from SSE and Shaw College, and Lin Zhen, Graduate of SSE and Shaw College.

Student Representative Lin Zhen recalls fond memories at CUHK-Shenzhen before embarking on his research journey at MIT

Student Representative Lin Zhen from SSE, Shaw College addressed the audience

Lin Zhen, one of the winners of the Presidential Award for Outstanding Students, spoke on behalf of The Class of 2019. Lin has received a number of fully funded Ph.D offers from prestigious universities in the world, among which he chose MIT as his next destination.

"We are very fortunate to have the opportunity to study at CUHK-Shenzhen. This is the place where we can receive solid training in English and learn to think critically. At CUHK-Shenzhen, we are guided by our interests. The interesting and advanced research projects enable us to be creative, to challenge ourselves and to explore the various possibilities of the world. Thanks to this fast-growing university, we have learned to be independent and to enjoy colorful university life with great happiness.”

Prof. Yangsheng Xu presented the Parents Contribution Awards for eight graduates' parents

Aside from those six students, eight students' parents were awarded the Parents Contribution Awards for their generous support and active engagement. President of the University, Prof. Yangsheng Xu presented the special medals for them as a token of gratitude.

President Yangsheng Xu: a light shall always be kept for graduates here at CUHK-Shenzhen

Prof. Xu, then, gave a speech to congratulate the Class of 2019 and recognize the contribution of every member of the University as well as the government.

"Since its establishment in 2014, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen has marched forward into the fifth year. Over the past five years, we have grown in size and strength, leaping from zero to what we have today, defining each passing day with progress and advancement. This year, we have established our fourth school: School of Life and Health Sciences; we have also started planning the School of Medicine and the School of Music. The University is forging ahead towards its mission: to become a world-class research university. All of these would not have been possible without the joint effort of our faculty, staff, students, parents, and friends from all walks of life in both Hong Kong and Shenzhen, without the steadfast support of the Hong Kong and Shenzhen governments and The Chinese University of Hong Kong."

Prof. Yangsheng Xu, President of CUHK-Shenzhen, addressed the audience

Concluding his speech, Prof. Xu said with heartfelt affection that whenever the graduates go, whatever difficulties they are faced with, even when their entire world is enveloped in darkness, a light shall always be kept for them here at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen. 

Career destinatins of Class of 2019: First cohort of SSE graduates recognized by the world as the Greater Bay Area being the top-favoured destination to work

By May, 80% of the Class of 2019 of CUHK-Shenzhen choose to pursue further studies. Many of them have received offers from top 50 universities in the world, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Oxford University, Cambridge University, Yale University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Imperial College of Technology, ETH Zurich, Carnegie Mellon University, etc. Among them, 44 of the first SSE cohort have been admitted to doctoral programmes of prestigious universities, further validating SSE's education mode.  

For the rest of graduates who are going to join the workforce, they have successfully secured positions at a variety of world-renowned enterprises, including Huawei, Microsoft China, Baidu, Tencent, JD.com, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Coca Cola, Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG and Deloitte. Most of them will be based in Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Shanghai. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area continues to be the top-favoured destination to work.

Prof. Xu expressed his great pleasure and pride to The Class of 2019 on the ceremony.

"From inexperienced kidults into men and women of maturity and capability, you have gone through considerable changes since the day when I first welcomed you into CUHK-Shenzhen. I am, on the one hand, proud of you. On the other hand, I feel much indebted to you for it is your confidence, tolerance and support that has driven this newly established university to advance in every way. I guess it can be well said that ‘the university has ferried you to the world as much as you have presented the university to the world'! "

For more pictures on the ceremony day, please scan the QR code below. 

For the video of the ceremony, please scan the QR code below.