Xinhuanet.com Beijing December 19—The Ministry of Education held a press conference today to elaborate on the newly issued “Opinions on Further Exploring the Separate Paths for Academic and Applied Graduate Education.” At the conference Wang Bo Vice President of Peking University shared the university’s experience in proactively developing talent in foundational disciplines and continuously advancing the academic innovation-oriented talent training system.

As he explained Peking University is enhancing its admissions and selection mechanisms to facilitate autonomous talent development. Adhering to the philosophy of “early identification and early training” the university enrolled over 1000 high school students in 2023 through initiatives like the Strong Foundation Program Mathematics Talent Class and Outstanding Physics Talent Training Program. These students show enthusiasm and talent in foundational disciplines. Consistent with the patterns of talent development in these areas the university is experimenting with an integrated Bachelor-PhD training scheme to cultivate a more focused inclusive and sustainable growth environment. It has piloted and comprehensively implemented a “PhD application-assessment” system to refine talent selection criteria focusing on students’ general competencies research innovation abilities and potential in academic/applied subjects. The university encourages the development of distinctive graduate training programs across disciplines aiming to strengthen theoretical knowledge promote academic discussions and enhance academic integrity and training in scientific methodologies. In 2023 it offered over 150 courses on thesis writing and academic standards and created approximately 7000 PhD research assistant positions to foster the development of original innovation skills through research activities.

Wang Bo stated that Peking University is actively recruiting pioneers in academic innovation-oriented talent training to enhance its advisory team. Following the directives of the central conference on talent-related work it has launched the “Talent Strategy Year” introduced 20 strategic initiatives aimed at bolstering the university with an ever-growing talent reserve and refined the top-level design for its faculty team. The talent recruited in recent years spans key areas including basic subjects cutting-edge sciences and interdisciplinary fields. The university is also advancing reforms in the selection of PhD advisors by implementing a new system that directly grants PhD advisor status to newly recruited teaching and research faculty thereby restructuring the advisory team. Notably there has been a significant increase in the proportion of advisors under the age of 35. Furthermore the university is enhancing the dynamic adjustment mechanisms for advisory roles steering the allocation of enrollment resources towards areas of strategically urgent national needs and advisors who are active in research with a track record of high-quality training as evidenced by annual admission qualification reviews. Additionally the university is fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and deepening the integration of science and education. It is systematically adjusting academic degree programs and proactively promoting the development of interdisciplinary studies. The new catalog of disciplines and majors for graduate education released in September 2022 now incorporates interdisciplinary fields. Peking University is actively promoting the establishment of relevant talent training programs. It has received approval to launch first-level disciplines such as “National Security” and “Integrated Circuit Science and Engineering” and has autonomously created cross-disciplines like “Data Science and Engineering” and “Integrative Life Sciences”.

“Building a high-quality graduate education system is not an overnight endeavor” Wang Bo emphasized. He outlined Peking University’s ongoing commitment to refining its graduate education and degree programs. The university will continue to guide students through liberal arts education as they mature into well-rounded individuals emphasizing both their professional skills and general education. It will recognize and foster the potential of exceptional students and promote innovation through interdisciplinary approaches. Additionally the university will preserve its autonomy while embracing openness. Plans are in place to enhance training pathways for different types of graduates with a continued focus on independently nurturing top-tier innovative talent.