On September 7, the university convened its first progress meeting of the new semester on doctoral program applications. Ge Shirong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and university president, and Xiong Zhihua, a member of the university Party Standing Committee and vice president, attended. Also present were deans and key faculty from colleges with proposed programs, as well as relevant staff from the discipline office. Xiong chaired the meeting.
Ge commented on each proposed program’s progress and laid out three requirements. First, continue refining the application summary forms and invite experts regularly to review and improve them. The forms should both respond to major national strategic needs and draw on long-standing strengths to showcase each discipline’s distinctive advantages. Second, assemble a strong core faculty team, with staffing tiers closely aligned with disciplinary directions, and avoid mismatches between personnel and disciplinary positioning. Third, adopt effective methods to raise the visibility and influence of the disciplines, projecting the “three specials”: especially important, especially necessary, and especially outstanding.
Xiong said the meeting’s instructions and requirements must be implemented resolutely. The discipline office should further refine its focused sprint plan, and each proposed program should meet deadlines, shoulder its tasks, and advance well-organized doctoral program applications.
Feng Tugen, director of the Office of Discipline Construction and Development Planning, reported on the latest policy trends for doctoral program applications, recent surveys of the proposed programs, and key next steps. Each proposed program gave a detailed report on revising its summary form, outreach, difficulties, and near-term plans. The meeting also discussed the draft 2026 Special Sprint Plan for Doctoral Program Applications and a dedicated task force for the work.
