Source: SYSU News Center
Written by: SYSU News Center
Proofread by: Ian Heuer
Edited by: Wang Dongmei

On January 4-5, 2016, Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU) held a series of meetings at the School of Physics, the School of Materials Science and Engineering, the School of Electronics and Information Science, the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, and the School of Data and Computer Science. The meetings were aimed to discuss the work of newly established schools and the adjustment of schools and departments with faculty and staff in the related schools.

SYSU President Prof. Luo Jun, SYSU Vice Presidents Prof. Wei Minghai and Prof. Li Shanmin, SYSU Assistant President Mr. Yang Qinghua, and administrative department directors attended the meetings.

President Luo Jun and Assistant President Yang Qinghua introduced the basic guidelines and principles for the recent adjustment of schools and departments. SYSU has put forward the strategic goal of developing the University into a first-tier nationwide university and further into a world-class university where all disciplines develop distinctively and systematically. The University is conducting comprehensive reforms, and the recent adjustment of schools and departments exemplifies the reform direction of shifting the management focus downward, which means each school and department should have its key construction discipline and direction, define its responsibilities for disciplinary construction, and allocate its resources according to those responsibilities. The adjustment of schools and departments is oriented toward first-level disciplines and has been approved by the University’s Academic Committee after many surveys and much research.

President Luo Jun emphasized that the State Council has officially announced the “Overall Plan to Coordinate and Push Forward the Construction of World-Class Universities and World-Class Disciplines”, and it will officially begin implementation this year. A world-class university must have a number of world-class disciplines, and the construction of world-class disciplines is the basis for accelerating the construction of a world-class university. Centering on disciplinary construction and through the adjustment of schools and departments, SYSU will optimize its institutional structural layout and increase support for relevant disciplines so that the relevant schools can concentrate resources, make plans, take the opportunities, break through the bottlenecks, and contribute to the University’s transformation from “strengths in humanities, social sciences, science and medical sciences” to “strengths in humanities, social sciences, science, medical science and engineering”. The University is enjoying a golden period for development. As both participants and witnesses in the process, all faculty and staff will work together and forge ahead, making contributions toward the next frontier of development at SYSU: developing into a world-class university.