In collaboration with Stanford's Graduate School of Business, SCPKU has unveiled two new immersive classrooms at the center which enrich the overall student experience and increase Stanford's online and distance education program's impact. SCPKU's Executive Director, Andy Andreasen, shares the background behind the development of SCPKU's new Highly Immersive Classroom (HIC) and Enhanced Classroom (EC) with Amy Lee of Stanford's Office of International Affairs. Read more.

Charles Eesley, Stanford Assistant Professor of Management Science and Engineering and SCPKU Faculty Fellow, shared his views on linkages between Chinese science parks and innovation during a public talk in October 2013.

The Chinese government developed over 100 high-tech industrial development zones and over 80 university science parks since the mid-1980s, aimed to support fundraising and growth for innovation. How do they contribute to innovation in China? Are places like Zhongguangcun helping Chinese firms like the Silicon Valley? On October 30, 2013 during an SCPKU public talk, Charles Eesley, Stanford Assistant Professor of Management Science and Engineering and SCPKU Faculty Fellow, shared his research on science parks as innovation policy in China and the channels through which ventures acquire financial and political support in China.

The establishment of science parks began when researchers located in Zhongguancun began to come out of their labs and start entities for commercializing research achievements in the 1970s. Since the late 1980s, the Chinese government has put in place a set of national and provisional regulations to establish science parks as key public infrastructure to receive public resources promoting high-tech entrepreneurship.

By 2004, with nearly 7000 industrial parks in China, the government stepped up its efforts to tighten regulations and clean up unqualified industrial parks. By the end of 2006, the number of industrial parks had dwindled from over 6800 to less than 1600.

Established in 2004, Tsinghua University Science Park, or "Tuspark," is both one of the most renowned science parks in China as well as a company which builds other business parks. Tuspark is comprised of400 companies and 25,000 employees with 30 branches around China.

Using data gathered from Tuspark, Professor Eesley has spent the past 8 years trying to identify links between science parks, entrepreneurship, and innovation. His research has shown that science parks have mixed or relatively small effects on innovation. "Science parks may provide services, connections, and an institutional setting for legitimation and brokering that is not common outside these parks. Such effects of science parks are stronger in emerging economies or nascent markets," says Eesley.

While there may be no direct effects of science parks on innovation or venture growth, there are indirect effects that help attract public funding, particularly for businesses lacking personal government ties. Entrepreneurs can also expect to benefit from connections ("guanxi") and legitimacy.

Eesley is the recipient of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) 2012 Research Fund for International Young Sciences, and the 2010 Best Dissertation Award in the Business Policy and Strategy Division of the Academy of Management. He has a doctorate from the MIT Sloan School of Management and is a former entrepreneur in medical equipment innovation. His research focuses on how formal and informal institutions, and industry environment influence entrepreneurship.

The Stanford Daily, October 25, 2007

By Andrew Valencia - Staff writer at The Stanford Daily

In hopes of expanding Stanford's presence in China, the University is now in the process of developing a new research facility on the campus of Peking University in Beijing as part of the Bing Overseas Studies Program (BOSP).

The new facility has just entered its initial planning phases. The campus is expected to encompass a broad range of research from a variety of departments, according to Political Science Prof. Jean Oi, who is involved in planning for the proposed facility.

"We already have a strong BOSP program in Beijing at Peking University," Oi said in an email to The Daily. "This would build on that to encourage more students and faculty across the different schools to have an overseas experience. We would like to have a center that could allow our faculty to hold seminars, workshops and do collaborative work with scholars in China."

BOSP currently operates overseas study programs in 10 cities around the globe, including Beijing, in addition to overseas summer seminars held each summer at a variety of locations worldwide. While these overseas programs are open to all undergraduates, the new Beijing research facility is expected to be utilized primarily by graduate students and faculty.

Oi said that it is unclear as of yet which specific programs will be the focus of the research, but the door is open to a wide range of areas.

"The nature and type of research will very much depend on the projects initiated by different Stanford faculty and students," said Oi. "There is no set agenda, although we expect there to be a variety of research topics."

BOSP and Peking University officials will have to work out the details of their agreement as planning proceeds. For now, however, it is more or less clear that, whatever the nature of the facility, it will be seen primarily as an arm of Stanford, developed for its students and faculty.

"There may be some special workshops and short-term courses that local students can take, but most of the classes will be those offered through the Overseas Study Program," Oi said. "For those classes, as currently is the practice, a few Chinese students can participate but this is mainly a program for Stanford students."

Stanford Magazine: President Hennessy's letter to alumni addresses Stanford's growing global outreach and influence and cites FSI's Rural Education Action Project (left) as one stellar example. He also previews the new Stanford Center at Peking University, the hub for China-related activities across the university.

Read more.

Stanford Report: The Stanford Center at Peking University will be a home base for researchers working in China and offer more opportunities for collaboration between Asian and American scholars. Read more.

SCPKU held its first graduate seminar in Summer 2013. Taught by Professor Richard Vinograd in Stanford’s Department of Art and Art History, the seminar was entitled “Site-Based Art Historical Research in China: Issues and Opportunities.” Professor Vinograd recently shared his perspectives on the course and his research on Chinese art history.

Question: Why did you decide to apply for SCPKU's Graduate Seminar Program? What did you hope to bring and learn in China as part of the program?

Vinograd: I applied to the SCPKU Graduate Seminar program for some of the unique advantages it offers. These include the opportunities for students to encounter works of art in their full physical and spatial environments. There is also the opportunity to interact with Chinese counterpart students and faculty, to better understand their approaches to research and historical scholarship, and to build useful relationships for the future. In turn, my students and I offered our own perspectives and approaches to Chinese art historical studies.

Question: Can you tell us a little about your research and its connection to China?

Vinograd: I am primarily an historian of Chinese art, focusing on Chinese painting and prints from the last millennium, up to the present. I have written focused studies of Chinese portraiture, landscape painting, and about a number of individual artists and themes. Most of my own research is based on objects in museums or other collections, but I've also written more generally about art in particular locations -- mural paintings in temples, architectural monuments and sculptural programs in cave shrines So I was particularly happy that during the summer program I was able to visit some sites that I hadn't directly experienced before.

Question: What did you learn during your stay in China? What were the most surprising/interesting things that you encountered?

Vinograd: I learn something new almost every time I encounter an original monument or work of art, no matter how familiar, and I try to impress upon my students the value of continued close examination and questioning of original monuments every chance they get. One of the most striking aspects of several of the ancient temples we visited was the discovery of calligraphic inscriptions on the undersides of roof cross beams, that documented episodes of repair and renovation to the buildings that were sometimes centuries old.

Question: Was this your first time taking students on an overseas course/field trip? Please share some of the challenges you may have encountered on your other trips (and/or this trip) and how you resolved them.

Vinograd: I've taken students on overseas field trips several times, to Japan, Taiwan, and China. Usually these have been to study especially rare and important exhibitions and attend associated scholarly conferences, sometimes with visits to archaeological, historical, or architectural sites included. Usually the challenges of such events are logistical and linguistic, including absorbing the content of lectures and discussions carried on in many different Chinese accents. Since the SCPKU seminar focused so heavily on site visits, we frequently had to negotiate access to normally restricted areas, or permission to illuminate and photograph murals in dimly-lit temple halls. Our colleagues from Peking University were especially helpful on those occasions.

Question: How was your experience at SCPKU, and how is it different from other Stanford Centers you may have visited before?

Vinograd: Our experience at SCPKU was very positive -- the facilities were great and the resident staff was very helpful. I haven't taught at any other Stanford Overseas Programs, so I don't have that basis for comparison, but I can confidently say that SCPKU serves a very useful purpose in providing a platform and gateway for study and research in China.

Question: What are your plans in China, if any, for the future?

Vinograd: I visit China regularly for research, exhibitions, and conferences and I expect to continue those activities in the future.