1. On March 11 of 2015, a team of seven individuals wrote to the Chinese President Xi Jinping, officially proposing to establish a new and advanced research-oriented university. In April, President Xi endorsed the idea by making an important comment on the proposal.

2. In July 2015, Westlake Education Foundation was registered as a legal entity, which serves as the main fundraising support of Westlake University.

3. On November 23 of 2015, Xihu District government of Hangzhou and Westlake Education Foundation signed a strategic partnership agreement to jointly build Westlake Institute for Advanced Study.

4. On December 1 of 2015, Westlake Institute for Advanced Study was officially registered as a legal entity. It forms the foundation of future Westlake University.

5. On February 29 of 2016, Hangzhou Municipal Government approved the establishment of the Hangzhou Westlake University Project Construction Headquarter.

6. In June 2016, academic teams of Yigong Shi, Yi Rao, Jianwei Pan and Shiyi Chen applied for support from talent schemes including “Hangzhou Top Talents and Major Team Projects” and “Zhejiang Province’s Leading Innovative and Entrepreneurial Team”.

7. In July and November of 2016, WIAS hosted the two rounds of global academic talents introduction interviews in Beijing and Hangzhou.

8. On December 10 of 2016, the Inaugural Ceremony of WIAS was held in Hangzhou.

9.  In March 2017, WIAS officially launched its campus and labs in Cloud Town, Hangzhou and welcomed the first cohort of faculty and staff.