do not wait or rely on others, but be brave to reform: decoding the "lanzhou university plan" for running higher education well
2024-09-18
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xinhua news agency, beijing, september 17th. on september 17th, xinhua daily telegraph published a report titled "don't wait or rely on others, be brave to reform - decoding the "lanzhou university plan" for running higher education well."
rooted in the northwest, it is unique; passing on the torch, educating countless talents.
lanzhou university, located on the banks of the yellow river, has a 115-year history of running schools. although it is located in the northwest, it has always been connected with the times and made progress with the country. it has remained true to its original aspiration, unwavering in its determination, never waiting or relying on others, and has the courage to reform. it upholds the school motto of "self-improvement and uniqueness", focuses on "the major issues of the country", highlights the characteristics of the west, and strives to blaze a trail in building a world-class university with chinese characteristics in underdeveloped areas. it has formed a unique "lanzhou university plan" and written a magnificent chapter in which chinese universities share the same destiny with the nation and progress with the times.
passing on the torch and gathering development energy through reform
in 1909, gansu law and politics school was established, which is the predecessor of lanzhou university. according to historical records, lanzhou university and its predecessor were "the highest institution of learning in gansu province, and also the highest institution of learning west of kaifeng and east of tacheng".
in 1946, the famous educator xin shuzhi, with the spirit of “doing what cannot be done today”, “rebuilt” the national lanzhou university with the college of arts, law, science, medicine and veterinary medicine. he transformed lanzhou university from a local institution into a comprehensive university rooted in the west and facing the whole country, shouldering the historical mission of building the northwest and revitalizing the motherland in the turbulent years.
lanzhou university is located in the west, with relatively isolated information and relatively backward economy, but it has gathered a group of famous teachers and talents from home and abroad. they are unswervingly pursuing national development, national rejuvenation and human progress, and are determined to rewrite the poor appearance of the west and even the motherland with practical actions.
zheng guoyan, a plant cell biologist, is a pioneer of biology at lanzhou university. after completing his studies in the united states in 1951, he held the belief of "saving the country through science" and chose lanzhou university, which had very difficult conditions at the time, among many universities. he has been teaching and educating people here for 61 years. he once said: "if the conditions are good, i would have stayed in the united states. i came back to do something for the new china, and lanzhou should be a place that needs people."
zheng guoyan and his teachers and students started from scratch and worked hard to lay a solid foundation for the establishment and development of plant cell biology in my country. the foundation he laid helped lanzhou university's biology still occupy an important position in my country's biological disciplines today.
at that time, like zheng guoyan, a large number of educators came from all over the country and took root in lanzhou university. they were based on reality but not satisfied with the status quo, faced up to difficulties and overcame them, which led to the emergence of many "lanzhou university phenomena" and enabled lanzhou university to gradually develop into a key and strategic university in the national higher education layout.
in 1955, in order to cultivate talents for the "two bombs and one satellite" project, lanzhou university took the lead in establishing a nuclear science major in the country. in the following decades, it has provided the country with a large number of nuclear professional and technical talents, and has provided a foundation for the most difficult areas in our country.
li jijun, a geographer and geomorphologist, has devoted his life to sorting out the "past and present" of china's geomorphology. many of his more than 100 students have grown into academic leaders and well-known scholars in key scientific research institutions in china. the story of him, academician qin dahe, and professor xiao cunde, three generations of teachers and students, bravely exploring the "three poles" of the earth, is still a widely circulated academic story in the scientific and educational circles.
from his determination to "save the country through nutrition" to promoting the development of china's grassland science, academician ren jizhou, the founder of my country's grassland science, established the country's first alpine grassland positioning experimental station, the first grassland department, and the first unified teaching plan for grassland undergraduate majors, making northwest grassland research a world leader. he could have made different choices in his life, but he stayed at lanzhou university all his life and dedicated himself to china's grassland science.
faced with long-term ecosystem degradation and people's living difficulties in the semi-arid loess plateau, professor zhao songling, the founder of my country's water-harvesting agriculture, and his team developed the full-film double-ridge furrow sowing technology and proposed a theoretical system of water-harvesting agriculture to benefit the people.
the course of more than a hundred years is like a rushing river; the characters of more than a hundred years are like shining stars.
"they cut through mountains and built bridges over rivers. with a sense of urgency, the older generation of educators took root in the west, dedicated themselves to the west, and made a career in the west." ma xiaojie, secretary of the party committee of lanzhou university, said that their hard work laid the foundation for lanzhou university's important position in the history of higher education in china, and their patriotism and spirit of perseverance have infected generation after generation of lanzhou university's "successors."
in 2004, huang jianping, who was still working abroad, was invited to return to his alma mater, lanzhou university, to work. he founded the school of atmospheric sciences, making the once insignificant discipline a national first-class discipline. the team he led also became the first batch of huang danian-style teaching teams in national universities.
"although working and living in the united states is comfortable, in the long run, people will lose motivation, and returning to china provides a bigger platform." huang jianping said that the right person for the right job, the right person for the right job. in 2021, he was elected as an academician of the chinese academy of sciences, and achieved "two-way running" with the school.
in 2016, with the efforts of huang jianping, lanzhou university initiated the construction of the "belt and road" climate and environmental observation network, aiming to improve the monitoring and early warning capabilities of global climate and environmental changes and contribute "lanzhou university wisdom" to global climate change research. at present, all 7 stations in china have been built, and some stations abroad have also been built.
the university has tall buildings, and the famous teachers continue to sing songs. xu pengfei, a 60-year-old professor from the school of chemistry and chemical engineering, studied at lanzhou university, grew up at lanzhou university, taught at lanzhou university, and dedicated his beautiful youth to lanzhou university.
xu pengfei said: "the former department of chemistry was home to many famous teachers, and academic exchanges were very active. the unintentional inspiration of an academic report and the careful guidance of a famous teacher could change a student's life, and i was one of the beneficiaries. at that time, the 'state key laboratory of applied organic chemistry' built by predecessors such as mr. zhu ziqing, mr. liu youcheng, mr. huang wenkui, and mr. chen yaozu gave wings to lanzhou university's chemical science research and talent training."
looking back at history and looking at the present, the gathering of high-quality talents is the "secret" for lanzhou university to remain active on the chinese higher education stage.
in 2020, jin zhiwen, a professor at the school of physical science and technology, became one of the first batch of "cuiying scholars" at lanzhou university, engaged in research on radiation detection and imaging technology based on metal halides. the status of "cuiying scholar" not only enabled him to obtain research funds within the university, but also helped him to form an academic team, giving him priority in terms of office and laboratory space, graduate student enrollment indicators, etc.
"i am highly respected at lanzhou university, and i deeply feel that love is the fine tradition of lanzhou university." jin zhiwen said that the university provides considerate services for his work and life, allowing him to devote himself to scientific research. in december 2023, the new semiconductor radiation detection technology team led by him made important progress in the field of metal halide x-ray detection.
great things can only be accomplished with the help of many talented people; the way to innovation is to get the right people.
in 2020, lanzhou university implemented the "cuiying scholars" development plan, abolished pre-conditions such as academic qualifications, professional titles, and awards, focused on evaluating the effectiveness of talents in moral education, academic innovation, and actual contributions in serving major national needs and national economic construction, promoted the evaluation of representative works and peer expert evaluation systems, and made progress in both hard treatment and soft security. it supported "cuiying scholars" by opening a "green channel" for medical care, providing "move-in" talent apartments, and solving children's schooling. at present, young talents under the age of 45 in the university account for 53% of the "cuiying scholars".
if you keep thinking about something, it will definitely have a positive impact. major research projects led by "cuiying scholars" encourage interdisciplinary and collaborative research, attracting more young talents to join, and their demonstration and leading role have been effective.
"the young teachers who receive support have stable incomes, teams and laboratories." zhang qiangqiang, a cuiying scholar at lanzhou university and a professor at the school of civil engineering and mechanics, said that he was selected for the youth talent program of the national talent plan in the second year after he was selected as a "cuiying scholar."
lanzhou university was once called the "most wronged university" by the outside world due to its serious brain drain, and it is well aware of the importance of talent gathering. in recent years, lanzhou university has been brave in reform, gathering talents with careers, attracting talents with projects, and retaining talents with platforms, building a two-way driving force for personal value realization and career development.
in 2018, the school established the ecological innovation institute. the creation of this platform has enabled the teaching and research team of the ecological innovation institute to grow rapidly from just a few years ago to 23 people in 2022. in 2022, the school officially established the school of ecology. at present, the school has gathered 14 national talents and 81 teaching and research personnel.
with a platform, there is an opportunity to spread your wings and fly high. the establishment of physical scientific research institutions and interdisciplinary platforms such as the lanzhou university pan-third pole ecological environment and climate change frontier science center, grassland microbiology research center, and national nuclear industry research institute has provided unlimited possibilities for many young talents to display their talents.
with the construction of projects and platforms, the gathering effect of high-level talents has become more prominent. li pengfei, director of the talent office of the party committee of lanzhou university, introduced that since 2020, the school has introduced more than 520 talents from home and abroad, added 9 academicians (including dual appointments), and added 100 candidates for major national talent projects. the number of postdoctoral fellows in the school has grown from 190 at the beginning of 2020 to 376 now.
the torch of struggle is passed on, and scientific research has successors. ambitious young people with a sense of patriotism and a scientific spirit are working with lanzhou university to answer the same questions and create a better future.
focus on education and teaching to cultivate talents for the country
talent gathering is the first resource for the development of universities, and talent cultivation is the lifeline for the survival and development of universities. lanzhou university has always had a strong sense of crisis and mission, and attaches great importance to talent cultivation. after the adjustment of departments in the 1950s, the university combined the school-running pattern of comprehensive universities with basic disciplines and research, focusing on cultivating outstanding professional talents who "undergo specialized course training based on extensive and comprehensive theoretical knowledge".
yan chunhua, president of lanzhou university, introduced that over the past 115 years since its founding, the fine tradition of attaching importance to undergraduate education has been passed down through generations of lanzhou university teachers and students. in 1959, after the well-known educator jiang longji became president, he took various measures, such as strengthening the teaching requirements of basic theory and basic skills training. since the reform and opening up, this fine tradition has been highly valued by successive presidents and has become a guiding principle throughout undergraduate teaching. in recent years, keeping a close eye on national strategies and regional development needs, the school has always practiced its original aspiration of cultivating talents for the country, innovating talent training models, and focusing on education and teaching.
multidisciplinary collision and interdisciplinary teaching. this novel training model has emerged on the lanzhou university campus in recent years.
in the fall semester of 2021, the interdisciplinary course project started rolling out after nearly half a year of preparation. lanzhou university broke the barriers between departments and colleges, and formed a teaching team consisting of two or more teachers from non-similar disciplines. every year, about 100 new interdisciplinary courses are opened to all students, aiming to allow different disciplines to collide in the same class and cultivate undergraduates' interdisciplinary thinking in advance.
associate professor ren guiping's team from the school of geological sciences and mineral resources combined seemingly unrelated content such as medicine, geology, and the human body on the scale of "past, present, and future" in an attempt to tell students about humanity's understanding of man and nature.
there are no restrictions on grades or majors. as long as students are interested, they can choose to study! the unique course has attracted countless fans. driven by curiosity, wang shiqi, a student from the school of stomatology, participated in ren guiping's course. wang shiqi said: "my horizons have been broadened! the biomineralization mechanism taught by the teacher corrected our previous misunderstanding of the process of kidney stone formation. moreover, when students from different majors take classes together, more new ideas will emerge."
there are many more mind-opening courses like this. professor qiu dejun's team from the school of philosophy and social sciences combines philosophy, theoretical physics, mathematics and computer science to lead the new generation of young people to explore the unknown of the "artificial intelligence world"; professor hu xiaobin's team from the school of public health combines big data and artificial intelligence to study major public health and health issues and solve complex problems in the health and medical field.
"the school uses this method to broaden the horizons of undergraduates in advance and cultivate their critical thinking ability," said guo mingzhou, director of the academic affairs office of lanzhou university.
college students' critical thinking ability is the basic skill of scientific research and innovation, and building a foundation of faith and belief is the original intention of colleges and universities to cultivate morality and educate people. this not only concerns the shaping of students' personal morality and values, but is also the key to higher education to cultivate all-round talents with a sense of responsibility and mission.
tear off the stereotyped labels, deepen the connotation of ideological and political courses, and seek vitality from reform and innovation. in recent years, lanzhou university has innovated methods and means to release classroom vitality, explored and promoted ideological and political education and teaching reform from the supply side, turned "non-rigid needs" into "real needs", and turned "i have to learn" into "i want to learn", enhancing the ideological and affinity of ideological and political courses and improving the initiative of college students in ideological and political learning.
the secretary and the principal took the lead in taking to the podium, and the school leaders and the teachers of ideological and political courses prepared lessons and discussed together; the role of famous teachers in mentoring and helping others was brought into play, and a group of young and middle-aged teachers who were energetic, had good growth potential, and were highly representative were trained to improve the teaching level of ideological and political courses; "ideological and political courses" teaching competitions were held, and courses rich in ideological and political elements such as "approaching nuclear science and technology" and "introduction to astronautics and space spirit" stood out from the competition, which were "innovative" and heartfelt, and prevented students from "slacking off".
gong changrui, a professor at the school of marxism at lanzhou university, has a unique teaching style. "new content is usually introduced by questions, and then supplemented with questions and extended explanations based on the answers to the questions, interspersed with data, cases and stories, to explain the theory layer by layer and thoroughly, so that students can actively participate in classroom activities."
gong changrui believes that teachers of ideological and political courses should not be superior in the teaching process, but should establish a friendly and equal relationship with students. he will adjust the classroom atmosphere to a relaxed state for students so that they can listen attentively.
in addition to classroom teaching, unique and down-to-earth ideological and political "big classrooms" are also held in turn under the organization of the school.
at the site of the shenjialing battlefield during the lanzhou liberation campaign, students sang the revolutionary song "the battle of shenjialing" to learn about the tragic and glorious history of lanzhou's liberation. the passionate tune lingered in the students' hearts for a long time.
at the nanniwan revolutionary site, students experienced the nanniwan spirit of "self-reliance, hard work, unity of purpose, and solidarity and struggle" firsthand.
at the winter wheat yield measurement activity in wangchenwan village, xiamen township, kongtong district, pingliang city, gansu province, students talked with villagers about production and life, and felt the new vitality brought by rural revitalization through personal experience and hearing.
in "social classrooms" such as towns, villages, factories and enterprises, teachers of ideological and political courses conduct on-site teaching based on real situations.
the contents of textbooks such as policies and guidelines, national conditions and current affairs, and social practice have been innovatively brought to the "social classroom", attracting college students and planting their lifelong ideals and aspirations.
"it turns out that ideological and political courses are so attractive. the feeling on site is completely different. the content in the textbook is concrete and very real. we love to listen and can understand it." said li you, a 2023 master's student at the school of marxism.
cai wencheng, dean of the school of marxism at lanzhou university, said that immersive and experiential learning methods such as flipped classrooms, scenario simulations, and on-site experiences are becoming increasingly common in ideological and political courses. "in addition to these, students also teach ideological and political courses on stage, changing from 'i will learn' to 'i will teach', and students are 'active', making ideological and political courses 'lively'."
at the same time, with the help of new media, young teachers have launched high-quality video ideological and political courses that they create to the "taste" of college students and are very popular among students.
"students can use the digital simulation teaching platform and vr and other technologies to experience historical restoration scenes such as young marx's career choice, the sanwan restructuring, and the long march of the red army," said gong changrui.
reform is motivated, reform is for students, and reform is effective.
yan chunhua said that a series of ideological and political education measures have formed a broader and more powerful force for education. since the founding of new china, lanzhou university has become an ideal, ambitious and distinctive socialist university standing in the west of the motherland, cultivating a large number of outstanding talents who consciously obey the needs of the country and "can be retained, used and do well", which is inseparable from the school's long-term emphasis on ideological and political education.
high-quality talent cultivation provides a continuous driving force for economic and social development. since the reform and opening up, the number of lanzhou university graduates who have been awarded academicians of the two academies and become "outstanding young scientists" ranks among the top universities in china; over the past 115 years, more than 420,000 talents of all kinds have written their loyalty and dedication to the country, the nation, and society with a strong sense of patriotism and unique perseverance and struggle.
developing characteristic disciplines through resource mining without waiting or relying on others
gansu has diverse landforms represented by loess, desert, gobi, plateau, glacier, etc., ecological environments such as drought, high cold, and windy sand, historical and cultural heritage characterized by dunhuang, the ancient silk road, and harmonious coexistence of multiple ethnic groups, as well as gifts from nature such as abundant sunlight and rich mineral resources.
lanzhou university has always believed that a first-class university in the northwest must be unique and distinctive. lanzhou university strives to transform the regional characteristics of the northwest into comparative advantages of natural endowments, closely combines regional development, national goals, and global vision, and gradually forms a number of distinctive research results, reflecting value and shaping character in serving major national needs, supporting regional development, and promoting the progress of human civilization.
heifangtai in yongjing county, linxia hui autonomous prefecture, gansu province is known as the "chinese loess landslide museum". in the 11-year study of heifangtai landslide, professor zhang fanyu of the school of civil engineering and mechanics proposed a new viewpoint on the cause of disasters caused by saturated liquefaction of the basement, and found that the geological environmental problems of salinization and ground subsidence caused by artificial irrigation caused the groundwater level of heifangtai to rise, which seriously affected the activity of loess landslides. this achievement provides a new theoretical understanding for the early warning of mobile loess landslides in the irrigation areas of northwest china.
zhang fanyu introduced that nearly one-third of china's geological disasters occurred on the loess plateau, and it is urgent to effectively curb such disasters. he built a fully automatic loess landslide field scientific observation network on the loess plateau, making it an important research base for scientific research teams such as peking university and gansu provincial seismological bureau. he also developed a high-density electrical instrument with independent intellectual property rights, promoted the transformation of geophysical detection to geophysical observation, and provided equipment support for multiple scientific research institutions.
with global vision, rooted in lanzhou university and the west, a group of lanzhou university people have integrated discipline construction, basic research and the development of the west and the country, becoming a leading force in serving national strategies and western development.
professor xiong youcai of the school of life sciences has been engaged in the research and development and promotion of dryland farming technology for a long time. under their promotion, field micro-rainwater harvesting technology has been introduced to africa to seek new solutions for food security there. this technology is easy to operate, low-cost and low-labor, and is favored by small farmers in africa. at present, xiong youcai's team has established 8 technical demonstration sites in kenya and directly trained more than 1,500 farmers and 220 agricultural technicians.
the regional characteristics of the west have forced the research and development of efficient water-saving agriculture, and the efforts of lanzhou university have helped more regions realize the dream of "full granaries" and "adequate food and clothing".
only by creating distinctive features can we be more competitive. nuclear science has a long history in lanzhou university. in recent years, the expansion of researchers has brought new life to this "old discipline".
professor liu zhiyi's team from the school of nuclear science and technology has mastered the key technologies in the application of muons and developed the country's first industrializable muon imaging system. they have successfully carried out a "ct" examination of the xi'an city wall and a gold mine detection experiment on a mountain in gansu.
liu zhiyi introduced that this technology can not only accurately and safely conduct internal detection of large-scale cultural relics and historical sites, and assist in the archaeology and protection of cultural relics and historical sites, but also has broad application prospects in glacier scientific research, landslide monitoring and other fields in the future.
keeping close to regional and national demands and keeping a close eye on the international academic frontier, lanzhou university continuously integrates, crosses and merges disciplines, merges old disciplines, creates new disciplines and forms a unique discipline system.
ecological protection and high-quality development of the yellow river basin is a national strategy. based on the advantages of lanzhou university in geography, ecology, grassland science and related humanities and social sciences, in 2019, lanzhou university established the yellow river basin green development research institute, which is committed to the ecological and environmental protection of the yellow river basin and deeply involved in soil and water conservation and pollution control in the middle reaches of the yellow river.
"the ecological environment of the loess plateau is fragile, the soil is loose, heavy rains cause strong erosion, and soil erosion is serious. scientifically understanding the hydrological and climatic effects of large-scale vegetation construction on the loess plateau is a current hot scientific issue." tian lei, a young researcher at the lanzhou-dalian yellow river basin green development research institute, introduced that the team carried out numerical simulation research on the regional hydrology and climate of the loess plateau to quantitatively evaluate the impact of large-scale vegetation construction on regional temperature, precipitation, water vapor transmission, etc.
tian lei said: "vegetation has a good carbon sequestration effect, but high-density afforestation and vegetation construction will cause excessive consumption of water resources. based on this, we will design a feasible plan for returning farmland to forest (grass) in terms of layout, selection of grass and tree species, and provide scientific and reasonable suggestions to ensure the sustainable development of vegetation construction on the loess plateau."
lanzhou university has distinct characteristics in discipline construction, reflecting chinese characteristics and international standards. while focusing on national strategies, lanzhou university's functions in serving social and economic development are also increasing, forming more new productivity and benefiting people's livelihood with tangible results.
professor li xiangkai of the school of life sciences of lanzhou university used jiangshui, a delicacy from northwest china, as a research object, isolated and extracted probiotics, and made a series of "jiangshui+" achievements, including jiangshui yogurt and jiangshui beer, making it an auxiliary treatment for hyperuricemia. not long ago, li xiangkai's team published new research results, showing that lactobacilli isolated from jiangshui can inhibit the growth of colorectal tumors in mice, and it is expected to provide new ideas for the treatment of colorectal cancer in the future.
"we cannot let good research results remain only in the laboratory. we must create world-leading functional foods for disease prevention, bring research results to the market, and promote people's health," said li xiangkai.
like li xiangkai, professor li fadi from the college of grassland agriculture and technology and professor hu fangdi from the school of pharmacy are also passionate about the transformation of scientific and technological achievements. they hope to improve people's livelihood in a tangible way through down-to-earth results.
li fadi's team was the first to complete the comprehensive testing and mass production of lanzhou university's "huayangxin". it took more than 10 years to expand the breeding of more than 500,000 sheep and promote the production of more than 10 million hybrid sheep, achieving a major breakthrough in the field of sheep genome breeding that is comparable to international peers in my country; hu fangdi's team helped build 145,600 acres of standardized codonopsis pilosula planting bases through the "government + university + enterprise + cooperative + farmer" model, promoting the development of the chinese medicinal materials industry in the main codonopsis pilosula production areas in gansu.
today, creating irreplaceable disciplinary and scientific research advantages has become the only way for lanzhou university to explore the high-quality development of higher education in central and western china.
after 115 years of spring and autumn, no matter it was the turbulent years or the peaceful times, lanzhou university has always been deeply rooted in this thick yellow land. in the baptism and tempering of the long river of history, it has gradually explored scientific ways to serve the people, the society and the country.
"we have deeply realized that colleges and universities in central and western china cannot 'wait and rely on others', but must 'charge forward', seek development from reform, and seek progress through hard work," said ma xiaojie.
