YNU research alliance selected as national pilot model

The National University Alliance for Ecology Field Research, a virtual teaching and research office led by Yunnan University (YNU), was recently selected as a model for the 2024 pilot construction of virtual teaching and research offices.

An ecology field research is held by Yunnan University, Sun Yat-Sen University, and Dali University teams. [Photo/ynu.edu.cn]

The model list was released by the Secretariat of the Virtual Teaching and Research Office Project of the Ministry of Education and the National Higher Education Teaching Research Center. The National University Alliance for Ecology Field Research was initiated in November 2023 by the School of Ecology and Environmental Science at Yunnan University and the College of Urban and Environmental Sciences at Peking University.

The alliance combines numerous member institutions with ecology field research bases, covering 24 provinces and municipalities across China. Utilizing the virtual teaching and research office platform, the alliance has established a public platform for educational and teaching resources in field ecology courses.

Teams from Northwestern Polytechnical University and Lanzhou University carry out ecology field research. [Photo/ynu.edu.cn]

In 2024, 23 alliance members released joint internship opportunities, offering more than 150 placements. These collaborative field research activities have been conducted nationwide, enhancing the concepts, capabilities, and effectiveness of field practice teaching among member institutions. This initiative has received guidance from the Ministry of Education and has been featured in the journal Smart Teaching and Research in Higher Education, hosted by the expert group to construct virtual teaching and research offices.

In 2022, the Ministry of Education selected the virtual teaching and research office for ecology field research as one of the first pilot projects for virtual teaching and research office construction. There are currently 787 pilot projects for virtual teaching and research offices nationwide.

The alliance will continue to promote exchanges and cooperation in areas such as cultivating ecological talent and sharing internship teaching resources, contributing to the construction of a collaborative higher education community for ecology in China.