On the morning of May 6, the CTBU 2014 Seminar on Model Exploration for Doctoral Talents Cultivation Program was held in the conference room on the sixth floor of CTBU Tin Ka Ping Building. The seminar was organized by Doctoral Talents Cultivation Program Office of the Center. Many experts and scholars attended the seminar, including Senior engineer Tao Jingliang from the Executive Office of Three Gorges Project Construction Committee of the State Council, Yuan Wei, expert of the Discipline Review Team of the State Council and professor of Renmin University of China, Deputy Director Peng Liang of Immigration Department of Chongqing, Yu Qilin, the head of the Immigration Support Division of Immigration Department of Chongqing. The CTBU President Yang Jirui, Vice President Huang Zhiliang, Vice President He Yongping, Professor Liao Yuanhe, Dean of Industrial Economy Research Institute, and doctoral supervisors and teachers were also present in the seminar. The seminar was hosted by Professor Wang Chongju, Director of the Expert Committee of Doctoral Talents Cultivation Program. And discussion was carried out around the theme “Model Exploration for Doctoral Talents Cultivation Program”.
On behalf of the Construction and Management Office of Doctoral Program, Yu Xinghou, Dean of Graduate School, introduced the background of the Program and relevant requirements on the quality of doctoral cultivation from higher authorities. He specifically mentioned that the three documents issued by the Academic Degrees Office of the State Council in 2014 proposed stricter requirements for quality of postgraduate education and that of graduation thesis. Yang Wenju, Deputy Director of the Center, on behalf of the Doctors Training Office, made a report from aspects regarding the general situation of the cultivation program, the cultivation model, curriculum setting, employment and new measures adopted in the process of the enrollment.
Then, experts with and beyond CTBU as Yuan, Tao Jingliang, Peng Liang, Yang Jirui, Liao Yuanhe and Huang Zhiliang carried out discussion on some specific issues of the Program and reached extensive consensus, such as the quality of students, period of learning, cultivation standard, practice and training, curriculum system, etc. All the experts present agreed that CTBU should design and evaluate the doctoral cultivation scheme from the perspectives of the country, the Academic Degrees of the State Council and the evaluation experts, so that the Program can not only meet high academic requirement for doctors, but also be provided with practical requirements for special program and the particularity of pilot project. In the process of selecting doctoral candidates, focuses should be geared from scores to previous research achievements and potential, to their dedication to ensuring the security, stability and well-off of the Three Gorges Reservoir Area and their research plan. Doctoral cultivation requires high-quality academic papers, dissertation and consulting report, and flexible period of schooling according to the research demand. In terms of curriculum, courses should be based on Applied Economics and accommodate such interdisciplinary knowledge of Social Sciences (including Demography), Management, Environmental Ecology, etc. As for learning method, the traditional model of classroom teaching should be abandoned and the interactive teaching (or discussion) model between teachers and students should be introduced. In addition, importance should be attached to students’ ability of combining theory with practice. Based on the needs of practical research, students can participate in various practices and trainings such as taking a temporary post in grass-roots and joining in scientific research projects and surveys. At the same time, the doctoral cultivation should continue to uphold the philosophy of being open, strengthen the exchanges of experience with other 35 universities with special doctoral programs nationwide and enhance the research and study of related reservoir issues in foreign countries.
In the end, Professor Wang Chongju recapped the meeting. He said that we were enlightened through the discussions. We should consider how the high-quality scientific achievements, practical advice and talent cultivation of CTBU can better serve the migrants of Three Gorges Project through the Program. And with that in mind, CTBU should carry out serious studies and implementation. On behalf of all doctoral supervisors, teachers and cultivation institutions, Professor Wang Chongju also extended heartfelt thanks to all experts for their sincere words and excellent suggestions.
In the afternoon, the Steering Committee Conference on the Implementation of National Strategy of Talents Cultivation Program for the Million Migrants’ Stability and Prosperity in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area was held CTBU. Members of Steering Committee from Executive Office of Three Gorges Project Construction Committee of the State Council, Immigration Department of Chongqing and Renmin University of China, and leaders of CTBU attended the meeting. Deputy Director Mou Yanlin of Chongqing Education Commission was also present and delivered a speech. The meeting was chaired by Yang Jirui, President of CTBU and Director of the Steering Committee.
The Party Secretary of CTBU Li Chunru also delivered a speech. On behalf of CTBU, she expressed a warm welcome to all the members present in the meeting and extended heartfelt thanks to their support and help to the construction of the Program.
Heads of the Graduate School and the Center respectively made presentations on the implementation and cultivation scheme of the Program. Members of the Steering Committee conducted in-depth discussions on key issues such as recruitment, educational system, setting of special courses, selection of dissertation subjects, internship and practice. They reached extensive consensus and further clarified the focus of the Program construction. Liu Ka, Director of the Economic and Technical Cooperation Department of Executive Office of the Three Gorges Project Construction in State Council and Deputy Director of the Steering Committee, and Peng Liang, Deputy Director of Immigration Department of Chongqing and Deputy Director of the Steering Committee, expressed that efforts would be made in database building, practice opportunities and scientific research to support the program construction in accordance with the consensus reached by the Steering Committee, thus providing a guarantee for the cultivation of talents needed by the National Strategy of the Million Migrants’ Prosperity and Stability in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area.
Deputy Director Mou Yanlin made a speech at the meeting. He pointed out that the National Strategy of Talents Cultivation Program for the Million Migrants’ Stability and Prosperity in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area was characterized by special background, special form, and special project. The program should adhere to “combination of multi-disciplines including Anthropology, Demography, Social Science, Management and Ecology with Applied Economics as the core”, “dissertation combined with investigation report”, “practice combined with classroom learning”, “thesis defense combined with the learning and cultivating process of postgraduate students”, “thesis topic selection combined with case study”, “research report combined with consulting report”. He also put forward that while the fundamental goal of this Program was to realize prosperity of millions of migrants, we should focus on stability, which ensured a right direction for the talents cultivation innovation.
Since The National Strategy of Talents Cultivation Program for the Million Migrants’ Stability and Prosperity in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area was officially approved, the Party Committee of our school has attached great importance to it, and listed the Program the top priority in present and future’s discipline construction and talents cultivation. Our school adheres to the guiding ideology of “serve the demand, highlight characteristics, innovate models and set strict standards”, advancing all work of the Program in accordance with the tasks and targets proposed in project demonstration report and the implementation requirements of China Academic Degrees Committee. Up to now, much progress has been made in the mechanism of program management, regulatory framework, and enrollment and cultivation, etc.
