On March 17, 2021, Zhejiang University Education Foundation and the Starry Night Charity Fund signed an agreement to donate for “The Starry Night Science Fund at Shanghai Institute of Advanced Study, Zhejiang University” to support the “Computing+” Innovation Lab and promote the basic and cutting-edge research in the interdisciplinary studies of computing and biology, medicine, agriculture and food science. At the first phase, the Starry Night Charity Fund will donate USD 100 million to Zhejiang University Education Foundation in the next 3 to 5 years for the research projects of “Computing + Biomedical”, “Computing + Agri-Food” and “Advanced Computing” innovation labs.
Shanghai Institute of Advanced Study, Zhejiang University is a new type R & D institute jointly established by Shanghai Municipal People’s Government and Zhejiang University in June 2020. With the aim of “achieving breakthroughs in key core technologies, being a platform for pooling first-class talents, a benchmark for serving and impacting regional development, and a model for deeper institutional innovation”, the Institute will focus on basic frontier and key core technology breakthroughs, develop to be a major scientific and innovative platform integrating “computing +” global talent attraction and cultivation highland, interdisciplinary research paradigm innovation engine and Yangtze River Delta innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem so as to boost Shanghai to be a leading global sci-tech innovation center, Zhejiang University to be a world-class university with Chinese characteristics and to be an innovation carrier and major benchmark to support the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta. The Starry Night Charity Fund, identifying with the research concept of Shanghai Institute of Advanced Study, Zhejiang University, will support its construction and development with full efforts.
A Council and an academic committee will be set up in the Starry Night Science Fund at Shanghai Institute of Advanced Study, Zhejiang University. Prof. Wu Zhaohui, Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences and President of Zhejiang University will be chairman and Rong Lili, Secretary General of the Starry Night Charity Fund will be Vice Chairman of the Council. The Academic Committee is composed of authoritative experts in related fields at home and abroad. Professor Chen Chun, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, will be Director of the first academic committee. And the members include Prof. Wan Jianmin and Prof. Ning Guang, academicians of Chinese Academy of Engineering, Prof. Wu Zhaohui, academicians of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Prof. Michael Levitt, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and Professor Raoul Bino, Senior Strategic Advisor to the Board of Directors of Wageningen University and Research Center, Holland.
The first projects to be carried out include “Research on ultra-large-scale real-time graph inference machine”, “Closed-loop regulation of major brain cognitive disorders”, “Research on tumor immune neoantigens” and “Research on cell cultured artificial fish”.
Founded and donated by Zhejiang University alumnus Huang Zheng and the founding team of Pinduoduo, the Starry Night Charity Fund is committed at cutting-edge sci-tech and basic research in life sciences, agricultural sci-tech, food safety and healthcare.