YNU aims high for long-term development

A new round in the development of "first-class universities and disciplines" in China is understood to have kicked off - and President of Yunnan University Fang Jingyun recently gave his views on how YNU could seize the opportunities presented, to support its own advancement as a leading academic institution.

YNU is based in Kunming, capital of Southwest China's Yunnan province and Fang was responding to an interview conducted on Feb 9 by Outlook Weekly – a weekly magazine published by Xinhua News Agency.

The university initiative has major and long-term ambitions. In September 2017, China launched its "double first-class" university strategy - coordinating and promoting the construction of world-class universities and first-class subject building - through which the country seeks to significantly increase the number of such campuses and disciplines by 2050.

Fang Jingyun, president of YNU and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. [Photo/ynu.edu.cn]

Fang said for YNU the initiative meant the embodiment of a strategic restructuring of national higher education that would galvanize the dreams of generations of teachers and students at the university.

To date, responding to the program, YNU's ethnology department had led the development of Chinese ethnology and its ecology and political science disciplines had also been ranked high in China. Furthermore, the establishment of three first-class research centers for life sciences, paleontology and astronomy had achieved remarkable results, he added.

Moving forwards, Fang said it was necessary to establish a pattern of discipline and orientation in line with the realities at YNU, which also needed to establish a corresponding system and incentive mechanism. On this basis, Fang said, YNU needed to strive to support talent, funding and other resources.

Additionally, the university had reformed its academic evaluation system and increased the proportion of course scores in a student's comprehensive evaluation from 60 percent to 85 percent, thereby stimulating their enthusiasm for learning.

Fang also expressed his best wishes for his students, urging them to become honest and lifelong learners.

An inspiring view of YNU's Chenggong campus. [Photo/ynu.edu.cn]