The results of the Tianjin 15th Social Science Outstanding Achievement Awards were revealed recently. TJU 23 won achievement awards, including seven first, four second and twelve third prizes.

Compared to TJU’s previous achievements, this time the first prizes included more disciplines, indicating that TJU scholars have achieved significant results in many fields and disciplines, including management, economics, laws, architectural cultures and education, among others. These achievements meet the needs of China’s cultural and social and economic development and they are of great academic influence and social value.

The seven winners of the first prizes from Tianjin University included: Professor Zhang Zhongxiang of Ma Yinchu School of Economics, Professors Yang Lixin and Sun Youhai of the Law School, Professors Zhang Huiying, Chen Weidong and Zhang Xi of the College of Management and Economics, and Associate Professor Wang He of the School of Architecture. Professor Zhang Yukun won a second prize, and Professor Xiong Xiong of College of Management and Economics won a third prize, among others.

In his Carbon emissions trading in China: the evolution from pilots to a nationwide scheme paper, Professor Zhang Zhongxiang gave a comprehensive summary of the design, function, and performance of seven pilot schemes of a carbon emissions trading system (ETS) in China, and the lessons people learned from them. He also discussed how to use the ETS to improve the overall performance rating of the schemes and how to lower the cost, in order to deal with the irrational behavior of the ETS-covered enterprises. In his opinion, China’s carbon market cannot be constructed overnight, and it is necessary to legislate on carbon emission permit trading. Meanwhile, the carbon emission quotas should be regarded as a financial asset which is supposed to be beneficial to the environment.

In the article The Structure of Legal Relations in Online Transactions, Professor Yang systematically discussed the legal relationships in online transactions and suggested a macro structure. The foundation of the structure is the contract relations for online trading platform services between the platform provider and the seller or service provider and between the platform provider and the consumer, and the center of the structure is the sales or service contract relations between the triad of the seller, the service provider and the consumer. This macro structure serves as a theoretical foundation for the development and legislation of the internet industry in China.

Professor Sun’s research report was on the Research on the Applications of Internet Legislation project. This research aimed to deal with the long-term and forward-looking issues that challenge juridical practice in the courts. The report provided references for judicial interpretation and gained special attention and support from the Supreme People’s Court.

Professor Zhang Huiyin co-wrote a book entitled The Transformation of Scientific Research Achievements in Universities: Exploration and Construction. In this book, she proposed a logical theoretical framework for the transformation of scientific research achievements in universities. Starting from theoretical science and technology, humanities and social sciences, and discussions of innovation mechanisms and the standard of value, she summarized the generality and specialty of the research results. In addition, she analyzed the essence of the achievements in the transformation of science and technology and social sciences, and compared their rules, which formed a complete and systematic structure at a high level.

Professor Chen revealed the influence of oil speculators’ psychological activities on the spot prices of crude oil in his research report. Based on the time sequence of futures and actuals, he constructed a double-deck complete network. He found the degree of mapping of the anticipation fluctuation modal on that of the spot prices of the crude oil, and the dynamic trajectory of the modals of crude oil spot prices and the anticipation of the speculators.

Professor Zhang Xi gave a micro and dynamic analysis on social media and knowledge management in his article From e-learning to social-learning: mapping development of studies on social media-supported knowledge management. With the analysis of the integration of social media and knowledge management, he proposed that SMKM in gradually becoming a new discipline had huge potential for further development. His achievements serve as a guide to scholars in this discipline.

Vice Professor Wang wrote a book in which he researched on the life span of city sculptures. In the book, he analyzed the problems in the culture and city construction with Marxist aesthetics thought and designed a framework which explained the inappropriateness in China’s city sculpture so that the inappropriateness can be avoided in the future. He also designed a proper technological method and a comprehensive marketing channel. His research is of great significance in China’s cultural rejuvenation and the construction of an ecological civilization.

The Outstanding Achievement Award of Social Science in Tianjin was set up by the Municipal Party Committee of Tianjin and the Tianjin Municipal People’s Government. It is the highest award in the field of social science in Tianjin. It is awarded by the Tianjin Municipal People’s Government every two years. Research achievements with high academic value and great social influence are only awarded after several rounds of evaluation.