AMTD and University of Waterloo jointly launched the AMTD Waterloo Global Talent Postdoctoral Fellowship to nurture emerging scholars and promote technological innovation

Recently, AMTD Group and AMTD Foundation announced the establishment of AMTD Waterloo Global Talent Postdoctoral Fellowship with the University of Waterloo, Canada's most innovative university. This Fellowship was co-sponsored by Mr. Calvin Choi, Chairman and CEO of AMTD Group and Chairman of AMTD Foundation, Dr. Feridun Hamdullahpur, President of University of Waterloo, and Dr. Donna Strickland, Nobel Prize winner, Canadian physicist, and professor of physics at University of Waterloo. This program is another strategic cooperation between AMTD and University of Waterloo for global talent development after establishing the AMTD-University of Waterloo Innovation Hub in Central, Hong Kong.

The first phase of AMTD Waterloo Global Talent Postdoctoral Fellowship begins in 2020 and ends in 2025. The University of Waterloo, AMTD Group, and AMTD Foundation will jointly select world-class scholars from top universities into the fellowship. The program will provide emerging scholars and outstanding talents who have disruptive research proposals and globally competitive research outcomes, especially in those important academic subjects, with unmatched opportunity to promote their technological innovation and research, and to provide them with career development opportunities, aiming to cultivate talents with leadership so as to drive future global developments.

Mr. Calvin Choi expressed his gratitude to the University of Waterloo for its continuous support and cooperation. As a leading university in the world, University of Waterloo dedicates in promoting technological innovation and has cultivated many outstanding entrepreneurs. AMTD shares a common vision and ambitions with the University of Waterloo, with the same goal of changing the world and shaping the future with technology. AMTD will continuously work with many scientific research institutions and universities, including the University of Waterloo, to make further contributions to the development of disruptive technology, revolutionary talents, innovation leadership, and innovative culture.

Dr. Feridun Hamdullahpur stated that AMTD Group has been an important partner of the University of Waterloo, with a well-established strategic partnership. Mr. Choi is an outstanding representative of the global entrepreneur alumni at University of Waterloo. Calvin has made remarkable achievements in entrepreneurship, technological innovation, and social community development. Over the past five years, he has led the transformation of the AMTD Group to become a comprehensive and diversified enterprise based in Hong Kong that connects China and the rest of the world, empowered by innovative finance and technological ecosystem. University of Waterloo believes in “co-operative education” with equal emphasis on learning and practice, and Calvin is the new-generation leader and representative of the University of Waterloo’s entrepreneurship. University of Waterloo will actively facilitate the implementation of AMTD Waterloo Global Talent Postdoctoral Fellowship, with the goal to cultivate more research talents and emerging scholars who stand out in the waves of globalization.

University of Waterloo is renowned for its innovative research, and it has been named as Canada’s most innovative university for 28 consecutive years, with world-class cutting-edge academic courses and influential research capabilities. Mr. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, has publicly praised the brilliant achievements of University of Waterloo in innovation at the World Economic Forum. University of Waterloo is also known as the “Silicon Valley of Canada”, with 30+ research centers, 1,300+ faculty members, and 400+ postdoctoral researchers, and it is also one of the world’s largest mathematics and computer science research centers. Focused on co-operative education with equal emphasis on learning and practice, University of Waterloo has been able to cultivate many innovative entrepreneurs, including founders of BlackBerry, Google Adwords, and Kik Messenger, and is therefore known as the cradle of Canada’s entrepreneurs.

In recent years, AMTD has been devoted to the cultivation of young talents, especially to support the development of entrepreneurship and learning of technological innovation talents, aiming to cultivate young people in a new era with scientific and technological innovation awareness and global vision. In Hong Kong, AMTD co-founded the first university-enterprise cooperated “AMTD FinTech Centre of PolyU Faculty of Business” together with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, co-established an innovative laboratory together with Chinese Foundation Secondary School, and organized Startup Express, a startup development programme, together with Hong Kong Trade Development Council and Our Hong Kong Foundation, to support the incubation of more technological talents with global vision and innovation awareness in the Greater Bay Area. In Southeast Asia, AMTD, partnering with Singapore Management University, National University of Singapore, and Xiaomi, launched the Singapore Digital Finance Leadership Programme, to cultivate digital finance leaders in Southeast Asia.