"You are now walking into a new world. You will excel, no doubt about it. But remember that you have a duty to society. Wherever you are going to have your career, help the society around you."

On July 10, Aaron Ciechanover, a Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry in 2004, offered the graduates of Guangdong Technion - Israel Institute of Technology (GTIIT) some advice as they were poised to dive into "a presumably bright but unpredictable future."

Aaron Ciechanover, a Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry in 2004, addresses the GTIIT Commencement for Graduates 2023 on July 10. (Photo provided to GDToday)

The GTIIT Commencement for Graduates 2023 was held in Shantou, Guangdong Province this Monday. Irit Ben-Abba Vitale, Ambassador of Israel to China, Wang Xuezhu, Vice Mayor of Shantou Municipal People's Government, Alex Goldman Shayman, Consul General of Israel in Guangzhou, and hundreds of students attended the ceremony.

(Photo provided to GDToday)

(Photo provided to GDToday)

Graduates are performing Yingge Dance, a traditional folk dance that originated from the Chaoshan area of South China's Guangdong Province. (Photo provided to GDToday)

In the commencement speech, Aaron Ciechanover firstly stressed the importance of critical thinking. He encouraged graduates to be daring to ask questions, which, as he argued, are the tools that will take them to solve the problems and obstacles on their career road in future.

Furthermore, he also hopes the graduates will be independent. “You are on your own to choose your way to pave your road and to change the society.” He told the youngsters.

The last point that the professor highlighted is improving life. “Use whatever you have learned here to alleviate human suffering wherever human people are living, wherever there is human life.” He said, adding that the younger generation should also shoulder the responsibility to address the challenges of climate change faced by this planet through engineering, which will “play a major role in solving them”.

Irit Ben-Abba Vitale also delivered a speech at the event. According to the Ambassador, the trade volume between China and Israel over the past ten years has reached more than 23 billion US dollars, making China the second largest trading partner of Israel.

Irit Ben-Abba Vitale, Ambassador of Israel to China, addresses the GTIIT Commencement for Graduates 2023 on July 10. (Photo provided to GDToday)

"It is a generational era, and we have vast, sometimes unthinkable opportunities," she said.

"Green growth is replacing traditional industrial growth. Digitization is taking the place of conventional trade and financial transactions. ChatGPT is disrupting traditional ways of conducting our lives. And you, the graduates, are fortunate enough to be equipped with the skills to encounter the challenges above, be entrepreneurs and make an impact on your country's future."

Wang Xuezhu expressed gratitude to GTIIT during the ceremony. Since its establishment, GTIIT has formed an interdisciplinary team to participate in the construction of Shantou International Wind Power Innovation Port and Offshore Wind Power Laboratory. It also organized the Nan'ao Science Conference, focusing on original innovation and exploring cutting-edge technologies.

About GTIIT

Founded in 2016, the Guangdong Technion - Israel Institute of Technology (GTIIT) is a Sino-foreign cooperative educational institution established by Shantou University (STU) and the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology (the Technion) with independent legal status.

This year, the university has a total of 240 graduates, and most of them will continue to study in world-renowned institutions of higher learning. Ten students have received full scholarship admission letters from Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon University, Northwestern University and other top universities in the world. Twelve students have received admission letters from ETH Zurich, the alma mater of Einstein.