Yang Xianjin, the Party Secretary of Tianjin University
Jin Donghan, the Principal of Tianjin University
New Year’s Greetings for 2022 from Yang Xianjin, the Party Secretary of Tianjin University and Jin Donghan, the Principal of Tianjin University
As we welcome 2022, at this happy time of ringing out the old year and ringing in the new, we would like to extend, on behalf of Tianjin University (TJU) and in our own names, our New Year’s greetings to our faculty members, retired staff, alumni at home and abroad and people from all walks of life who have long cared and supported the development of Tianjin University (TJU).
For all teachers and students of TJU, the year 2021 is not only remarkable but also unforgettable. We fully studied and implemented the guiding principles of the sixth plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and launched a campaign on Party history learning and education. We held a series of grand celebrations to mark the centenary of the Party. In addition, we made every effort to put the requirements of the Central inspection team into practice and continued to adopt regular prevention and control measures in response to changing Covid-19 dynamics. In doing so, the year 2021 witnessed remarkable breakthroughs in all respects of TJU.
Over the past year, we have been making great improvements in grooming high-quality talents for our country. Guided by the principle of spreading knowledge and cultivating people, we have made strenuous efforts to promote the comprehensive reform of talent training. That is to say, we have been devoted to cultivating students with all-round development of morality, intelligence, physique, aesthetics and labor through endeavors from all faculty members via all directions in the whole process. We have been promoting reform in physical education, aesthetic education and labor education. In addition, we continued to deepen reform in undergraduate education. 18 more majors and 37 more courses were listed into the national first-class undergraduate programs; four more disciplines were selected in “Plan 2.0 for Cultivating Top Talents in Basic Disciplines”. The “Tianjin University First-class Postgraduate Initiative” was released to craft a roadmap for the innovative development of postgraduate education for a new era. “Demonstration Center for Research on Ideological and Political Courses” initiated by the Ministry of Education was awarded to TJU, with three courses being selected as ideological and political demonstration courses. Furthermore, we continued to deepen the construction of the new engineering program. TJU became one of the first twelve universities in China to inaugurate the college of future technology and built 19 new engineering platforms for talent training. Supported by Andon and other well-known enterprises, we set up courses to strengthen innovation and entrepreneurship education, providing students with a chance to experience the practical management of enterprises. Students of TJU made great achievements in many competitions, wining 135 international awards.
Over the past year, we have been striving to build a strong team of first-class faculty members. We fully implemented the requirements of education evaluation reform and promoted the building of the classified evaluation system. We continued to deepen reform of the professional tenure track system, attaching importance to optimizing the college-level performance evaluation system. In addition, we pushed forward the comprehensive reform of the personnel system in all college-level units and established an honor system for faulty members to strengthen their responsibility for the university. We also laid emphasis on the construction of teachers’ morality to foster a culture of good professional ethnics. This year, Professor Yuan Yingjin was elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Professor Wang Shuxin and Professor Wang Chengshan were elected academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE). Visiting Professor Zhao Hua was elected as foreign academician of the CAE. Among our faculty members, 14 were awarded the title of National Leading Talent, 40 the title of National Youth Talent, one the title of National Outstanding CPC Member, one the National May 1 Labor Medal and one the honorary title of the Bearer of Red Flag March 8.
Over the past year, we have been committed to overall planning to build the comprehensive discipline system. To make that happen, TJU has promoted the overall arrangement of the disciplines of “Strengthening Engineering, Reinforcing Science, Rejuvenating Liberal AArts, and Prospering Medicine”, and independently approved and added the Ph.D. program of the first-class discipline in Pharmacy, Earth System Science, the professional Ph.D. program in Electronic Information and the first-class discipline for master degree in Journalism and Communication and other three disciplines. The College of Intelligence and Computing was listed in the first-batch Model Software Colleges with Characteristics initiated by the Ministry of Education. The discipline of Geosciences entered the Essential Science Indicators (ESI) Top 1% list of institutions in this field. 12 research and reform practice programs under the New Liberal Arts Program initiated by the Ministry of Education were approved. This year, the Tianjin Jinnan Hospital officially renamed “Tianjin University, Jinnan Hospital” as cooperation launched..
Over the past year, we have made great improvements in scientific innovation, with research funds exceeding 4 billion yuan. We have led 19 national key research and development projects, including five international cooperation projects. In the past year, we have obtained the approval of 368 projects by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, including two innovative research group projects, five National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars projects, and 13 Excellent Young Scientists Fund projects. four major and key projects of the National Social Science Fund were approved as well. In addition, TJU has claimed four national science and technology awards as the first completion unit, and published a research paper in Science and Nature respectively. The TJU Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Information Technology won the title of Pioneer of National Workers. As the leading unit, TJU has also participated in the establishment of the Haihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations. The Tianjin Biosecurity Guidelines for Codes of Conduct for Scientists, which is the first international initiative in global biosecurity governance named after a Chinese city, was endorsed by TJU. The Guidelines were confirmed by InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) and extended to the world. We also worked with Nankai District and Jinnan District to build the “National Science University Park”, with a view to continuously optimizing the environment of innovation and entrepreneurship.
Over the past year, we have made great efforts to enhance international cooperation. TJU has deepened the construction of its global strategic cooperation network, establishing cooperative relations with 256 universities, research institutes, and companies in 50 countries and regions at present. We continued to develop the ACNET-Engtech and signed the first joint degree program with Universiti Malaysia Pahang. TJU’s bid for the “Talent Development Scheme for International and Regional Studies” initiated by the China Scholarship Council was confirmed for the first time. In addition, international cooperation programs in education have been actively promoted. The feasibility study report for the construction project of TJU Georgia Tech Shenzhen Institute (GTSI) campus was officially approved. 4 main buildings in the first-stage project of Tianjin University-National University of Singapore Joint School in Fuzhou were initially completed. 21 new overseas student pool bases and partners joined hands with TJU. By doing so, the quality of enrolled overseas students has been improving.
Over the past year, we have been giving great priority to the development of campus culture. The school has held a series of academic and cultural activities to promote Party history learning and education. We have held a series of reading activities joined by both students and teachers, and carried out freshmen education themed by “Love the city where I have my college life”. We have also held a series of flower exhibitions, poetry concerts and alumni innovation and entrepreneurship competitions. The original play Hou Debang of Tianjin University (TJU) was staged at the Tianjin Grand Theater for the public. The commemorative pavilion donated by TJU alumni has become a new landmark beside the Youth Lake. The satellite “Tianjin University I” designed by TJU alumni blasted off into the universe. Furthermore, we have provided concrete assistance for targeted areas and helped Dangchang County consolidate their gains in poverty alleviation so as to promote rural revitalization.
Going forward, greater efforts still need to be made. 2022 is a significant year of the 14th Five-year Plan. The CPC will convene its 20th National Congress and TJU will also hold its 11th congress of Party representatives. Pooling wisdom and strength of all TJUers at home and abroad, we will make greater efforts to achieve our ambitious goal. That is, we seek to become a world-class socialist university with Chinese characteristics and TJU's style. We will continue to strive, march ahead with courage, and create brighter glory!
We wish all TJUers and friends around the world a harmonious, smooth, and auspicious year, full of happiness.
By: Lin Nan
Editor: Qin Mian
