Enhance Classified Education and Cooperative Exchangeto Promote the Cultivation of Creative Talents
---Thoughts about the Future Orientation of Graduate Education
Prof. Zihe RaoPresident, MCAS Nankai University
Aug.26th, 2010
Outline
1. The orientation of graduate education must correspond with the trends and needs of social and economic development
2. The acceleration of classified positioning is the basis and prerequisite of making clear the orientation of graduate education
3. Service-centeredness and innovation-orientation are the overall trends of future graduate education
4. The reinforcement of international exchange and cooperation is the important way to widen the orientation of graduate education
5. The consolidation of postdoctoral education is the important link to widen the graduate education of creative talents
1. The orientation of graduate education must correspond with the trends and needs of social and economic development
The ever-enlarging scale of graduate education in the past 30 years indicates the vigorous needs for high-level talents and it also manifests, to a certain extent, that the orientation and standard of graduate education in China during this period is basically in accordance with the needs of social and economic development.
quantity
Enterprises: qualified high-level talents difficult to be found
Crossroad
Universities: graduates more and more difficult to be employed
quality
“The work in the structural reform units of graduate education should be actively conducted, the inherent initiative of both graduate students and their supervisors should be positively motivated, and the students’ creative spirit and practical ability should be emphatically cultivated.”
News spokesman of Ministry of
Education
2006.9.25
“Graduate education in our country has achieved a lot due to reform and development in the past 20-odd years. However, according to the principle of cultivating creative talents, at present the quality and level of graduate education is far from satisfactory and thus a structural reform in graduate education is called for.”
In March, 2009, The Annual Joint Working Conference of National Professional Degree Education Guiding Committee was held in Beijing, the very theme of which is to accelerate the structural adjustment of graduate education by cultivating more professional-oriented talents and reducing the number and proportion of academic-oriented talents. A notice issued by the Ministry of Education regarding the enrollment of master students in 2010 requires clearly that each enrolling unit should cut down the number of academic-oriented admissions by 5%-10% on the basis of that in 2009, and the consequent vacancies are used for professional-oriented admissions instead.
The first batch of 17 universities engaged in the structural reform of graduate education approved by Ministry of Education (2007)
Peking University Harbin Institute of Technology
Tsinghua University Zhenjiang University
Fudan University Xi’an Jiaotong University
Shanghai Jiaotong University China Agricultural University
Tongji University Dalian University of Technology
University of Science and Technology of China
Nanjing University
Wuhan University Sichuan University
Southeast University South China University of Technology
Sun Yat-sen University Nankai University ( September, 2008)
main
contents
enhancing research-
orientation ,
construction and management
of supervisors
arousing students’ creative initiative
adjusting the structure of graduate education
reforming graduate
admission and education plan
establishing special fund
for graduates
implementing supervisor’s
post system
perfectingsupervisor’s responsibility
system
Reforming scholarship and subsidy
system
academic- oriented
graduates
professional-oriented graduates
According to the guidance of Notice on Further Implementation of Work Regarding the Structural Reform of Graduate Education in Those Units Concerned issued by the office of Ministry of Education (Teaching and Researching Office, [2009], N0. 1), the contents of the structural reform of graduate education mainly include:
In March, 2008, Nankai University carried out the classified graduate education in response to the call from Ministry of Education. Being the first to propose this concept of education, Nankai University also issued forth a series of documents such as Reform Measures in the Scheme of Classified Education of Graduates, Nankai Univeristy, and Provisional Plan for Graduate Scholarship and Subsidies, Nankai University etc.
Classified education enabled our graduates to be more qualified to meet social and market needs and effectively enhanced the quality of our graduates as well as the employment rate. Except some majors, the employment rate in our university maintained the level of 97% in recent years.
2. The acceleration of classified positioning is the basis of making clear the orientation of graduate education
Classified graduate education has been attracting extensive attention. Western developed countries like America since the very beginning have divided graduate students into academic-oriented type and professional-oriented type, with the former mainly cultivated by comprehensive schools of arts and sciences and the latter by professional schools.
graduates
Academic-oriented
Professional-oriented
Cultivated by Schools of artsand sciences
Cultivated by professional
schools
classified graduate education
Classification of graduates
Redistribution of graduates
Academic-oriented
(20-25 % )
Professional-oriented(75-80%)
Opportunity to Choose the type
of education
Opportunity to pursue further study trans- disciplinarily
For universities and research
institutes
For industriesand markets
Restricted to similar or neighboring
disciplines
Basic operational procedures of
classified graduate education in Nankai University
3. Service-centeredness and innovation-orientation are the overall trends of future graduate education
J. S. Brubacher, one of the famous higher education experts in America, holds that there are three kinds of philosophical thinking guiding the development of higher education, namely, epistemological thinking with the aim of exploring truth freely, political thinking with the aim of serving the country, and pragmatism philosophy characterized by the rational combination of both epistemological thinking and political thinking.
The future graduate education should on the one hand serve the disciplinary development and knowledge production and on the other serve the needs of the country, the society, the market as well as the individual graduate. Therefore, it embodies none other than the service-centered pragmatism. In order to serve better, the emphasis should be shifted from the increase of number to the upgrading of quality, which is the overall transcendence and innovation of the current graduate education system with its entire links.
Graduate education
Academic-oriented graduates( epistemological
philosophy )
Professional-oriented graduates
( political philosophy )
In service ofdisciplinary development
and knowledge production
In service of all kinds of
practical purposes
Pragmatismphilosophy
In view of the innovative practice of classified education in our university as well as the trends of social development, we hold that the basic orientation and general framework of future graduate education should be as follows:
Service-centeredness
Overall innovation
Overallinnovation
In order guarantee the high quality of graduate education, Nankai University has put forward successively 10 reform measures since 2005:
adhering to the disciplinary structure and educational principle of quantity in compliance with quality and structure in service of needs;
stipulating that each supervisor can admit no more than two doctoral students each year;
refusing to admit those students with high scores and low abilities; sticking to the unification of the generality of professional cultivation scheme
and the specificity of individual cultivation plan; improving educational quality by centering on the cultivation of creativity; making clear that supervisor is just a kind of working post instead of rank
symbol; breaking the situation of zero-weeding-out of graduates by strictly
implementing the academic standard and weeding-out system; establishing the fund for producing excellent doctoral dissertations and the
new academic star award for doctoral students; exploring a new model of doctoral student cultivation through the integration
of both master’s level and doctoral level; implementing classified graduate education.
Great Expectation’s High-end InterviewClassified Education: Nankai’s Step is the Earliest ---Interview with Professor Tong Jiadong, Vise President of Nankai Universityand dean of Its Graduate School
Reforms in our university has attracted
extensive attention from domestic media for coverage
transferred from Bulletin of Ministry of Education, 2005 (207) by China Alumni Association: Nankai University Carries Out Nine Measures to Upgrade the Quality of Graduate Education
4. The reinforcement of international exchange and cooperation is the important way to widen
the orientation of graduate education
Great differencesexist between Chinese and western graduate education which are well complement to each other
Our country has a good tradition to learn from the advanced experience of western countries, and since the reform and opening-up policy in 1978, there are increasingly more and more people studying abroad , which contributes a lot to the exchange and cooperation between Chinese and western education.
YearThose studying abroad
Those returned
1978 860 248
1980 2124 162
1985 4888 1424
1990 2950 1593
1995 20381 5750
2000 38989 9121
2001 83973 12243
2002 125179 17945
2003 117307 20152
2004 114682 24726
2005 118515 34987
2006 134000 42000
2007 144000 44000
2008 179800 69300
The number of overseas students from abroad in China also
takes on a growing trend year by year :
yearOverseas students admitted
Oversea students at school
Overseas students graduated
overseas students
degree-awarded
2004 50603 64107 36454 3030
2005 60904 78323 44337 3791
2006 62612 82107 44566 4782
2007 66509 92491 46322 6071
2008 71294 106870 52745 7406
Actively widening the scope of international exchange and increase the number of programs
Actively widening the scope of international exchange and increase the number of programs
Introducing world-renowned scholars in our university through the national wisdom-attracting program
Introducing world-renowned scholars in our university through the national wisdom-attracting program
Establishing international academic exchange fund for doctoral students in Nankai University
Establishing international academic exchange fund for doctoral students in Nankai University
Creating favorable conditions to attract overseas students from abroad to study in Nankai University.
Creating favorable conditions to attract overseas students from abroad to study in Nankai University.
Taking full advantage of the state-funded overseas student program and widen the scope of state-funded joint training
Taking full advantage of the state-funded overseas student program and widen the scope of state-funded joint training
Major
Measures
to
promote
International
Exchange,
Nankai
University
Major
Measures
to
promote
International
Exchange,
Nankai
University
Up to now,
we have already
established exchange
and cooperation with
more than 100 universities
or international academic institutions in 25 countries or regions. At present, there are
more than 2300 overseas students
from various countries in our university,
and the programs involved have
provided an important platform
for the graduates to
participate in
international
exchange and
cooperation.
5. The consolidation of postdoctoral education is the important
link to widen the graduate education of creative talents
The main force of research:
Home : centered on doctoral students
Abroad : centered on postdoctoral students
The type of postdoctoral students:
Home : out-of-job or in-job postdoctoral students
Abroad: employee-like postdoctoral associates
or non-employee-like postdoctoral fellows
Twenty-five years’ development of postdoctoral education system in China (1985-2010)
Problems: Misunderstanding of postdoctoral education
( mixed with schooling and degree) Formalization of postdoctoral education
( in principle in-job admittance is not allowed) Utilitarianism of postdoctoral education (mixed with various titles)
Achievements: 413 postdoctoral mobile stations, 2148 postdoctoral mobile research stations and 1642 postdoctoral research working stations established up to now Annual admittance more than 8000, with 14000 still working in stations and 40000 already graduated Seven of those postdoctoral members already selected as academician in China Academician Ouyang
Zhongcan from Chinese Academy of Sciences
Academician Wen Lan from Peking University
Conclusion
The orientation of future graduate education exhibits a kind of uncertainty because it is influenced by quite a few complicated factors in a specific period, such as political, economic, cultural and demographic etc, all of which may exert some influence on the orientation of graduate education.
Since 2005, we have explored issues such as how to upgrade the quality of graduate education, how to better link up social needs and graduate education and so on.
The following are specific measures taken during these
years.
(1) Through the strict application of supervisor’s post system, we have made clear the supervisor’s obligation and responsibility;
(2) we have established the new academic star award for doctoral students and the fund for producing excellent doctoral dissertations to encourage them to conduct creative research, and their creative ability is consequently enhanced;
(3) through the improvement of scholarship and subsidy standard, the graduates’ learning and research initiative has been effectively aroused;
(4) through the implementation of graduate weeding-out system, the traditional zero-weeding-out practice has been smashed and as a consequence, the quality of graduate education is greatly upgraded;
(5) through allowing graduate students to pursue further study trans-disciplinarily, their learning potentials have been better exploited;
(6) through classified graduate education, the dual needs of social development and disciplinary development have been optimally satisfied.
It can be safely concluded that Nankai University’s attempt at exploring the structure
and orientation of graduate education is quite successful. Nonetheless, we are still facing a lot of challenges and difficulties which require further effort and exploration to tackle them.
Well-known both home and abroad, Nankai
University is directly under the jurisdiction of the
Ministry of Education and it has been listed as one
of the “985 Project” universities as well as “211
Project” universities. Due to its renowned status, it
has always been cared and emphasized by the
Party and state leaders.
Nankai University was grown out of Nankai
School, privately established in 1904, and it was
formally established by famous patriotic educationists
Yan Xiu and Zhang Boling in order to realize their
ideal of saving the nation through education. In
addition, it was a successful example of running a
school by collecting unofficial resources.
Nankai yesterday: its origin
• In the history of Chinese
Olympics in the past century,
Nankai has always been very
active. The history of Nankai
University is engraved by its
longing, inheriting and
practicing of Olympic spirit.
• Zhang Bolin, the creator as
well as the first president of
Nankai University, once in a
sports award-giving meeting,
shouted that China should
participate Olympics, which
became Nankai’s first cry for
Olympics.
Picture 1 on the right hand: Zhang Boling at the 18th North China Sports Meeting
Picture 2 on the right hand : Zhang Boling kicking off for the students’ football match
Nankai yesterday: witness of Olympics in the past century
Nankai, born from a family school in Tianjin in
1898, is a world-renowned brand and Nankai
educational series are all famous schools in China.
Those personalities cultivated by Nankai
include 2 premiers, namely, Zhou Enlai and Wen
Jiabao, 1 vice premier, 4 NPC vice chairpersons,
5 CPPCC vice chairpersons, and more than 100
academicians. This nourishing glory is called
“Nankai Phenomena”.
Above: Young Zhou Enlai and other members in
Awakening Association
Deep affection I cherish for Nankai --- Zhou Enlai
Below: Wen Jiabao and Nankai students
Nankai spirit lasts forever --- Wen Jiabao
Nankai yesterday: two premiers and
tens of thousands of talents cultivated
Zhu Guangya
Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences as well as Chinese
Academy of Engineering, graduated from Physics Department,
National Southwest Associated University, alumnus of Chongqing
Nankai Middle School
Wu dayou
Distinguished physicist, honored as the father of Chinese physics,
graduated from Nankai University, once a professor in National
Southwest Associated University
Zhou Guangzhao
Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, renowned physicist,
once vice chairman of the standing committee of NPC, president of
Chinese Association of Science, alumnus of Chongqing Nankai
Middle School
Nankai yesterday: three distinguished deans
Zhou Enlai ( first premier of PRC, admitted in 1919 by Nankai University)
Shiing-shen Chern ( father of differential geometry, admitted in 1926 by Nankai University )
Wu Dayou ( father of Chinese physics, admitted in 1925 by Nankai University)
Cao Yu ( father of Chinese modern drama, admitted in 1928 by Nankai University)
Guo Yonghuai ( meritorious service for atomic bomb, hydrogen bomb and artificial satellite, admitted in 1929 by
Nankai University)
Liu Dongsheng ( father of loess in China, admitted by in 1937 by Nankai University)
Nankai yesterday: luminaries cultivated
Nankai Middle School, Tianjin ( 1904) Nankai University, Tianjin ( 1919)
Nankai Girls’ Middle School, Tianjin ( 1923) Shuguang Middle School, Sichuan ( 192
4)
Nankai Elementary School, Tianjin ( 1928) Nankai Middle School, Chongqing ( 1936 )
Nankai University was first bombarded by the aggressing
Japanese army in 1937 due to its resistant effort. Later it moved
to the south and established the National Southwest Associated
University with Peking University and Tsinghua University
which was honored as the “North Star of Learning”, a miracle in
Chinese education history.
Zhang Boling:
What was destroyed was just Nankai’s substances, but Nankai
spirit will become even more vigorous because of the frustration.
Chiang Kai-shek:
Nankai has sacrificed for China and as long as China exists,
Nankai will remain.
Miao Du and other 55 left-wing writers
sent a telegraph to Zhang Boling and Nankai teachers and
students, denouncing the barbarity of Japanese army.
Nankai yesterday: North Star of Learning
1946, Nankai returned to Tianjin to start anew as
a state-run university
1952, Nankai became a comprehensive university
with both arts and sciences
1994, Nankai was selected as one of “211
Project” universities
2000, Nankai was selected as one of “985
Project” Universities
With tremendous effort exerted by Nankai people
through several generations in the past 90 years,
Nankai University has established its leading statues
among universities in China, and it has developed
into a comprehensive research-oriented university
with the widest span of disciplines.
Nankai yesterday: rise in the century
2007, September, 13th witnessed the erection of the
monument of National Southwest Associated University in the
original form in Nankai University. The history of National
Southwest Associated University has been simultaneously
recorded in the respective history of each university. Rao Zihe,
president of Nankai University, Gu Binglin, president of
Qsinghua University and Xu Zhihong, president of Peking
University, standing together before the monument, appreciated
in retrospect that tragically stirring and glorious history in order
to pass down the school motto of National Southwest
Associated University (fortitude and prominence) and make the
historical friendship between Nankai University, Qsinghua
University and Peking University even closer in this new day
and age just like what it was in National Southwest Associated
University with a common purpose of making its largest
possible contribution to the rejuvenation of China.
Nankai yesterday: fortitude and prominence
National key disciplines 26
Provincial and municipal key disciplines 48
Authorized primary doctoral disciplines 16
Doctoral Programs 118
Mater’s programs 214
Undergraduate specialties 71
Postdoctoral mobile stations 18
In the first China’s Discipline Ranking conducted by Ministry of
Education between 2002 and 2004, all of Nankai’s 16 disciplines
participated ranked top ten nationally. In the second round of
ranking results (part of them) released by Ministry of Education,
Nankai’s chemistry ranked the first and its mathematics and
business administration ranked the third nationally.
Nankai today: prosperity in both arts and sciences
Chemistry, physics and
information science…
Chemistry,
biology…
Mathematics…
Economics and
Management…
History…
Nankai University gives priority to the construction of
five major disciplines in accordance with the principle of “
aiming for extractive powerfulness with specific focuses”.
taking full advantage of traditional
disciplines of literature, history and
philosophy
Strengthening fundamental research in
mathematics, physics and chemistry disciplines like economics, management
and law actively participating in social and
economic development
promoting the development of disciplines
like life science, medicine, pharmacy, new
materials and new energy
15 academicians in Chinese Academy of Sciences or Chinese
Academy of Engineering
4 academicians of the Third World Academy of Sciences
10 members of the Subject Assessment Division Degree Appraisal
Committee of the State Council
33 Yangtze River Scholars
27 recipients of National Outstanding Talents Foundation
17 teachers selected by national “Millions of Talents Program”
2 National Innovation Research Groups
2 National Wisdom-attracting Bases for Disciplinary Innovation in
Universities
3 Yangtze Scholar Creative Teams
Small-scaled Nankai University has one of the smallest
faculty among China’s prestigious universities and among its
1998 full-time teachers, there are
Nankai today: distinguished teachers gathering
In 2006, Nankai University selected for employment deans of some specific colleges from both home and
abroad publicly. As business flourishes with talents, school prospers with them. Nankai University, abiding
by the strategy of “talents lending power to school” and following the conventional practice of selecting
talents by prestigious universities in the world, has been attracting talents in open arms regardless of
nationalities.
Nankai Today: distinguished talents attracting
On 15th
, March, 2007, deans of 9 specific colleges as well as a batch of
outstanding talents attracted both from home and abroad made their appearance together in Shiing-
shen Building, and there they participated the solemn appointing ceremony.
Nankai Today: distinguished talents attracting
Li Zhaoxing, a famous diplomat, and Lin Liyun, a famous translator, received
their letters of appointment of Nankai University in September, 2007, respectively
appointed as the dean of Zhou Enlai School of Government and of College of
Foreign Languages with a four-year term.
Nankai today: distinguished talents attracting
Although the scale of science and engineering of Nankai
University is far smaller than that of many other universities,
Nankai University received 10 national awards of science and
technology between 2001 and 2005 because of its high input-
output ratio. It also received 7 national second awards of natural
science in three successive years (the first award is vacant),
ranking first with a parallel among universities in China.
Various awards and funds acquired by humanities also rank top
four in China’s universities.
Nankai today: excellent academic Results
There are in Nankai University
16 national or municipal key labs or engineering centers,
6 key research bases for humanities and social sciences under Ministry of education,
7 innovation bases in philosophy and social sciences included in “985 Project”, and
4 science and technology innovation platforms included in “985 Project”.
For many years, papers published by Nankai University in the fields of chemistry and mathematics in
international top journals have always ranked top three in China’s universities. Report made by Ministry of
science and technology and Chinese Academy of Sciences demonstrated that Nankai University had
published SCI papers in the field of super-molecular chemistry ranked the forth in the world and the first in
Asia.
Chart of SCI, EI papers published between 2000 and 2004
Nankai today: important base for research
Thank you!
Nankai University Add:No.94 Wei Jin Road, Nankai District, Tianjin P.R.CHINA 300071
Web:www.nankai.edu.cn