In December 2015, the predecessor of Westlake University, the Zhejiang Westlake Institute for Advanced Study was registered and established. Seven years later, in Ningbo, more than 180 kilometers away from Westlake University, another new force for high-level academic research has emerged.

On October 28, Westlake University and the Eastern Institute for Advanced Study (EIAS) formally signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement. The two sides will take this as a starting point to carry out cooperation in exploring institutional reform, attracting and training innovative talent, and building strategic scientific and technological strengths.

According to the agreement, the two parties will strengthen exchanges and cooperation, jointly discuss running a modern university, and explore new paths such as new university governance, talent recruitment and cultivation, and scientific research.

In the area of talent recruitment and cultivation, the two parties will especially  help each other, jointly exploring innovative student training models, sharing high-quality educational and teaching resources, and improving the training of top-notch innovative talent.

The two sides will also strengthen the construction of key disciplines and emerging interdisciplinary disciplines with a focus on four aspects: Cooperation in basic research, applied research and technology development, jointly holding high-level academic conferences and other academic exchange activities, sharing equipment, and scientific and technological achievements.

Both Westlake University and the EIAS were born in Zhejiang, a hot spot for innovation. Yigong Shi, President of Westlake University, is very much looking forward to the future of this new force. "Our two universities are not only like-minded in terms of orientation and philosophy, but also very close in location,” Shi expressed, “this cooperation is more like mutual help between family and friends, jointly facing challenges and opportunities in the development process, and jointly expanding the boundaries of knowledge and technology.”