A look into ZJU’s plan to world-class university

In Jan, 2017, Nature’s insideview interviews Dr. Zhaohui Wu, President of Zhejiang University, for a profile feature on Zhejiang University. Important keywords are World-class University, Innovation-driven, Innovator Cultivation, Collaboration and Internationalization.

Professor Zhaohui Wu, President of Zhejiang University

Below is the complete interview of President Wu(taken from Nature).

Q: What are the steps towards the goal?

A: We have set up a three-step plan to be consistently listed among the top in world university rankings. To achieve this, our strategies are to cultivate high-quality people, build academic strength, pursue research excellence, attract high-calibre scholars, observe cultural traditions and explore reform approaches. We are implementing comprehensive reformto improve our systems of talent training, academic innovation, faculty team-building, school administration and support. We will keep the momentum of the reform, be open to integration into global education and innovation network, retain an innovation-driven strategy and stay true to the mission of serving regional, national and global needs.

Q: How does ZJU cultivate innovators?

A: We have a coordinated approach to improve talent training. The goal of our holistic education is to closely integrate knowledge transmission, skill training and personality moulding. We are reinventing an educational model that incorporates general and specialized education, interdisciplinary training, as well as ideological and political teaching. We also try to streamline classroom education, open online courses, mobile learning and internet platforms to diversify students’ classroom experience.Future leaders need to be high-quality innovators with an international perspective. We have leveraged our multidisciplinary strength and entrepreneurial spirit to train interdisciplinary, creative talents. Our achievements are demonstrated by prizes won by ZJU students in international contests, such as a mathematical contest in modelling, an international collegiate programming contest and RoboCups. Entrepreneurial success of ZJU graduates and the amount of funding secured by ZJU start-ups are also outstanding among Chinese universities.

Q: How do you drive innovation at ZJU?

A: To build an innovative comprehensive research university with a world-class status, we are cultivating students with innovative spirits and leading an educational revolution. Innovation-driven development also means promoting high-quality research and knowledge transfer to support the national economy and meet global challenges. Additionally, innovation of management processes is needed. We are reinventing our organizational structure to create a culture that encourages innovation. We want to build an open system that supports international collaboration. I’m proud of our research innovations. We are leading domestic universities in numbers of SCI publications and citations, patents for invention, national science and technology awards, as well as contracts for technology transfers. Our researchers have achieved significant results, such as the development of high-end control systems, design and manufacturing of tunnel-boring machines, clean energy solutions, prevention of infectious diseases and cultural heritage protection. Currently, we have 18 areas of study ranked in the global top 1% in the Essential Science Indicator of which seven are ranked in the top 100 and four are in the top 50 worldwide.

Q: What are your internationalization strategies?

A: As globalization increases, opening up is integral to our goal of building a world-class university. We are accelerating our internationalization plan by forging partnerships with world-class academic institutions overseas. So far, we have established collaborations with more than 140 universities around the world, including a number of top-notch universities, like Princeton University and Imperial College London. We have sent out more than 8,000 teachers and students for exchange and received more than 6,000 overseas students as of 2016. We have also built first-rate joint institutes with the University of Edinburgh and the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Our plan to open up also means creating an ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship by integrating resources across and outside campus. In education, we are embracing the ‘open loop university’ concept, providing open-access learning opportunities and building an internationalized platform. We also strive to promote sharing of knowledge and culture.