Shenzhen's Bet on SUSTech Pays Off: Nearly 400 Tech Transfer Achievements and Counting

In 2005, DVD companies in Shenzhen's Bao'an District were almost completely wiped out.

Giants such as Hitachi, Panasonic, and Mitsubishi, which held core DVD patents, formed a patent pool to demand royalty payments from Chinese enterprises, threatening to withhold shipments if fees were not paid. Ultimately, Chinese exporters were required to pay $19 in patent royalties for each DVD unit exported.

In the second year of the DVD crisis, Shenzhen candidly acknowledged in its “No. 1 Document” that ““The lack of support from universities, research institutes, and national key laboratories has led to an inherent deficiency in source innovation for applied basic research,” with expectations to build innovative public infrastructure platforms to enhance source innovation capabilities.

In early 2007, the name “Southern University of Science and Technology” (hereinafter referred to as SUSTech) appeared for the first time in the Shenzhen Government Work Report, aiming both to promote educational reform and to enhance the city’s scientific and technological strength.The Shenzhen municipal government is determined to establish a new type of research university and has allocated one-thousandth of the city’s total land area for the campus of Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech). Over the five-year period from 2018 to 2022, the Shenzhen government invested a cumulative total of nearly RMB 15 billion in operational funding.

The Shenzhen municipal government has spared no effort in supporting this new university, both in terms of fiscal investment and policy flexibility. Living up to expectations, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) became Shenzhen’s first locally established institution and the youngest university to be included in China’s “Double First-Class” initiative in 2022. In the same year, SUSTech transferred and commercialized nearly 400 scientific and technological achievements to industry, completed the rights-empowered transformation of 72 achievements, supported more than 70 technology-based enterprises through the commercialization of scientific and technological achievements, and reached a total contract value of RMB 1.1 billion for achievement transformation.

In analyzing the success of Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), apart from recognizing the strong support provided by the government,You can still see the school’s inherent DNA for innovation and translation—boldness and inclusivity, much like Shenzhen’s pioneering spirit in its early days.

Benchmarking against the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, SUSTech strives to proclaim the slogan:Through approximately 15 years of dedicated efforts, to build a high-level research-oriented university of science and technology, providing talent, technological, and cultural support for Shenzhen.Therefore, whether for research-track or teaching-track faculty, SUSTech aims to recruit a large number of professionals with expertise in technological innovation.

As of now, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) has signed contracts to recruit 1,409 faculty members, including 64 academicians, 68 international fellows, 46 Chang Jiang Scholars (including Young Scholars), 25 experts under the National Special Support Program for High-Level Talents, 56 recipients of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, and 34 recipients of the National Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars.

To attract talent,Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) pioneered a series of innovative personnel system reforms, adopting a universal appointment-based employment model and a six-year “up-or-out” policy to ensure the vitality of its talent pool.While implementing the Principal Investigator (PI) system to encourage professors’ independent exploration, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) also supports professors in forming large research teams. The university has established a classified evaluation mechanism for research projects, distinguishing between those driven by free exploration and those oriented toward national needs, and implements a holistic evaluation framework that prioritizes collaborative efforts to address major scientific and technological challenges.

Make research orientation a key focus in talent evaluation; similarly,SUSTech also spares no effort to support researchers with ideas and aspirations in realizing their dreams.。

On one hand, SUSTech is supported by a robust research infrastructure, having established 3 national-level, 34 provincial/ministerial-level, and 69 municipal-level research platforms to facilitate researchers in overcoming technical challenges. On the other hand, the university provides ample start-up funding, tailoring packages to the specific needs of each research team to ensure they can devote themselves fully to early-stage research. Furthermore, SUSTech has established an annual President’s Fund of RMB 100 million to encourage original innovation. Professors may submit proposals directly to the President, and upon approval by a specialized committee, applicants will receive special funding support.

The recruitment of outstanding research talent and an atmosphere that encourages innovation have made the rapid advancement of SUSTech’s research achievements and its rankings both domestically and internationally an inevitable outcome. In 2023, SUSTech published a total of 6,515 journal articles, including 4,845 indexed by SCI. According to the 2022 Nature Index, SUSTech ranked 25th among universities worldwide and 12th among Chinese universities.

In 2015, Academician Chen Shiyi went to Shenzhen to assume the position of the second president of Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), bringing with him the philosophy of “creating knowledge, fostering innovation, and encouraging entrepreneurship,” with the vision of building SUSTech into “China’s most entrepreneurial research university.”

He stated that in a fertile ground for entrepreneurship like Shenzhen, confining professors to universities is not the path to institutional development.Academic freedom at universities means respecting professors’ choices: providing a quiet research environment for those dedicated to scholarship, while offering platforms for those inclined toward entrepreneurship and innovation, thereby aligning scientific achievements with societal needs.

Southern University of Science and Technology’s Industry-University-Research Innovation System

At the president’s initiative, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) has been continuously improving its innovation system for industry–academia–research collaboration. As the central hub of SUSTech’s industry–academia–research ecosystem,The Technology Transfer Center took the lead in breaking new ground through policy and institutional reforms.Successively formulated regulations such as the “Administrative Measures for the Protection and Commercialization of Intellectual Property Rights and Scientific and Technological Achievements” and the “Administrative Measures for Establishing or Participating in Companies through Intellectual Property Capital Contributions,” clarifying the pathways for the commercialization of scientific and technological achievements and the distribution of benefits between the university and faculty members, and clearly delineating the boundary between faculty members’ research activities and business activities.

In particular, in 2022, the Technology Transfer Center revised and promulgated the “Administrative Measures for the Protection and Commercialization of Intellectual Property Rights and Scientific and Technological Achievements” as well as the “Implementation Measures for Granting Researchers Ownership of Job-Related Scientific and Technological Achievements,” initiating a pilot program under which job-related scientific and technological achievements are co-owned by the university and the inventors on a proportional basis, thereby enabling joint commercialization.

Encouraged by university policies, a number of research projects have begun to proactively enter the market. To make these research projects more appealing to the market,The Technology Transfer Center of Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) also places strong emphasis on the “head effect” in achievement transformation, namely, the cultivation of high-quality patents.

First, patent layout is industry-oriented. Since 2018, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) has conducted multiple patent navigation initiatives targeting Shenzhen’s key priority industries, filing patents in various technological fields such as solid-state batteries, early cancer screening technologies, 5G communications, and medical devices. Second, SUSTech selects high-value patents within these key industries by strictly controlling low-quality patents through pre-filing novelty searches and commercial feasibility assessments, while prioritizing the protection of core technology patents via mechanisms such as expedited pre-examination.

Image source: Official school website

In 2023, SUSTech filed a total of 1,019 new patent applications, including 909 invention patent applications (accounting for 89.2% of the total applications); 647 new patents were granted, including 537 invention patents (accounting for 83% of the total grants).

In addition to the patents themselves, the team is also a key factor in the successful commercialization of intellectual property. Refocusing on “people,” Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) has established a Technology Transfer Acceleration Camp, offering customized proof-of-concept business courses to mentor and train teams. This initiative helps early-stage technology transfer projects establish an applied R&D framework oriented toward commercialization, clarify application directions for their achievements, and identify potential business models.

The translation of scientific and technological achievements relies not only on internal drivers within universities but also requires close collaboration with external factors.Foster an innovation ecosystem of “universities–government/enterprises/investment institutions.”

First, in “In terms of “university-enterprise” collaboration, the partnership between Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) and leading enterprises serves as a model example.——Leveraging their respective strengths and adopting a “dual-appointment” mechanism, the two parties jointly established a laboratory, creating an innovation consortium led by leading enterprises, supported by universities and research institutes, and actively participated in by various innovation entities.

As of December 2023, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) has established 110 joint scientific and technological institutions and signed substantive cooperation agreements with industry leaders such as China General Nuclear Power Group, Honor, By-Health, and Shenzhen Microelectronics Technology Co., Ltd. In addition, SUSTech has actively engaged in horizontal university-enterprise collaborations, launching more than 1,400 cooperative projects with a total contract value exceeding RMB 1.64 billion.

And in the “In terms of the “university–government” partnership, SUSTech has actively collaborated with local governments to build a supportive and guiding ecosystem for the commercialization of research achievements, thereby bridging the gap among innovation projects and enterprises across different regions at the governmental level.

Beginning with initiatives across various districts of Shenzhen, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) took the lead in establishing Shenzhen Maritime University and Shenzhen College of Innovation and Creative Design, while collaborating to co-establish a number of industry-academia-research cooperation and talent development platforms, including the SUSTech-HKUST Microelectronics College, Southern Institute of Industrial Technology (Shenzhen), Guangming Advanced Research Institute, and Pingshan Institute of Biomedicine. Expanding its reach beyond the province, SUSTech signed a cooperation agreement with the Guizhou Provincial Government in 2022, tailoring its efforts to the industrial characteristics of Guizhou Province, and established the “Guizhou Green Industry Technology Research Institute.”

Finally, in the “universities–investment firms” dimension, the younger Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) prefers to directly engage as a limited partner (LP) or venture capitalist (VC), providing safeguarding support for on-campus projects.

In August 2018, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) partnered with Shenzhen Investment Holdings Co., Ltd. to establish the SZIH-SUSTech Angel Fund. The fund was initially created to explore pathways for the commercialization of SUSTech’s scientific and technological achievements. With a total size exceeding RMB 130 million, the fund has invested over RMB 10 million in projects focused on the translation of SUSTech’s research outcomes. In 2023, SUSTech resumed its role as an angel investor by launching the “Nanke Wutong Angel Fund,” the first university-affiliated sub-fund in Shenzhen dedicated to the commercialization of scientific research. Outstanding enterprises among the more than 50 startups founded by SUSTech professors will be the primary investment targets of this fund, further accelerating the process of research translation.

On December 20, 2020, the 10th-anniversary celebration of Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) was held at the university’s Runyang Gymnasium. In his address, President Academician Xue Qikun highlighted SUSTech’s industry-academia-research collaboration and technology transfer system with distinctive Shenzhen characteristics—““Refine” talent development, “strengthen” discipline construction, and collaborate closely with industry to rapidly translate scientific research achievements into practical productivity.

Mutual Support Between First-Tier Cities and First-Class Universities. With the comprehensive support of Shenzhen, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) has taken root in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, leveraging innovation resources to attract talent from all sectors to Shenzhen, thereby fostering technological innovation and industrial development in the city.As a young institution, SUSTech has fostered a unique university culture, with “creating knowledge, innovating, and entrepreneurship” serving as its distinctive hallmarks, resonating in sync with the youthful city of Shenzhen.

References:

"Fighting a War That Cannot Be Lost"

“Southern University of Science and Technology Strives to Build an Innovation Ecosystem Focused on the Long-Term Benefits of Scientific and Technological Achievement Transformation”

“Building Innovation Chains Around Industrial Chains: SUSTech Unveils New Strategies for Technology Transfer!”

“Why Is Southern University of Science and Technology Shenzhen’s First ‘Double First-Class’ University?”

“Jin Xinyi Deciphers the ‘Shenzhen Innovation Code’ 49: SUSTech’s ‘Success-or-Failure Thesis’”

“Building a ‘Talent Reservoir’ to Support the Development of a High-Level Talent Hub in the Greater Bay Area”

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《The Secret Behind the "High Quality and High Yield" of SUSTech's Scientific Research Achievements》

“Southern University of Science and Technology: Pioneering Demonstration, Exploring the Path of a New Type of Research-Oriented University”

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