Nanjing University Hosts 4th Doctoral Interdisciplinary Innovation Forum

This year marks the 10th anniversary of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important instructions on building the “first Nanjing University” and the 2nd anniversary of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s reply to young scholars who returned from studying abroad at Nanjing University. In order to implement the important instructions and important reply of General Secretary Xi Jinping, the 4th “Doctoral Student Interdisciplinary Innovation Forum” of Nanjing University was successfully held at the Xianlin Campus on the afternoon of May 30. The forum focuses on the fundamental task of cultivating morality and cultivating talents, takes the construction of “double first-class” as the goal, accelerates the construction of the “first Nanjing University”, promotes a better combination of “education, technology, and talent integration”, aims at the world’s technological frontiers and major national strategic needs to promote scientific research innovation, support and enable the development of new quality productivity, and strive to cultivate high-level talents with both moral integrity and ability in the new era. Zhou Jilin, member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee of the University, Director of the Graduate Work Department of the Party Committee, and Executive Vice President of the Graduate School, attended the event and delivered a speech.

This forum was themed “Serving the country and the people and making further progress, setting sail for the cultivation of new talents with ‘new quality'”, with the background of promoting interdisciplinary cross-border integration. About 16 colleges and departments participated in the forum, and more than 120 academic achievement reports from participating doctoral students were received. Through academic reports, poster presentations, exchanges and discussions, etc., we are committed to creating a cutting-edge, open and diverse academic dialogue space, building a multi-channel and personalized academic exchange and dialogue platform for graduate students to grow and develop, and creating a teaching-learning, interactive, and positive scientific research innovation atmosphere.

Zhou Jilin attended three sub-forums and pointed out that graduate education in the new era needs to accurately follow the direction of “educating people for the Party and cultivating talents for the country”, with the core of promoting high-quality development of education, cultivating leading talents who “care about national affairs and shoulder national responsibilities” and are determined to devote themselves to the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, cultivating top talents with global vision and innovative spirit, and cultivating useful talents who actively serve the country’s social and economic development and adapt to the needs of multiple fields. Holding the brand event of “Interdisciplinary Innovation Forum for Doctoral Students” at Nanjing University is an important educational practice to implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s series of speeches on the strategy of rejuvenating the country through science and education, and to lead the cultivation of innovative talents to serve the needs of the country. He hopes that graduate students will shoulder their responsibilities, forge ahead, make full use of the learning, communication and display opportunities provided by the forum, integrate the ideals and beliefs of serving the country and the people into the daily process of learning and scientific research, and stride forward on the new journey of Chinese-style modernization.

This year’s doctoral student interdisciplinary innovation forum continues the form of rotating hosting by departments, and has three sub-forums. Sub-forum 1 is hosted by the School of Information Management, and co-organized by the School of Business, School of Government Management, School of Journalism and Communication, School of Sociology, School of Architecture and Urban Planning, etc. With the theme of “New Quality Productivity and Interdisciplinary Innovation: Exploring the Driving Force of Future Social Development”, it deeply explores the connotation, characteristics and impact of new quality productivity on future development, and brings together outstanding doctoral students in various disciplines to jointly explore the theoretical framework, practical path and application prospects of new quality productivity in different fields through interdisciplinary exchanges and cooperation.

Sub-forum 2 is hosted by the School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, and co-organized by the School of Environment, School of Atmospheric Sciences, School of Geography and Ocean Sciences, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, School of Life Sciences, etc. With the theme of “Earth System Science Research Driven by Artificial Intelligence”, the forum will focus on key scientific and technological issues in the fields of biological and chemical cycle mechanisms of key earth substances, geological processes and driving mechanisms, formation and safety of mineral resources (including water resources), interaction and habitability of the earth’s spheres, climate change and life evolution, geological (environmental) disasters and prevention and control, planetary science and deep space exploration, atmospheric pollution and control, land resources and sustainable development of the ocean, etc., to carry out cross-disciplinary academic exchanges among doctoral students, encourage the integration of frontier exploration and service needs, and promote interdisciplinary and cooperation.

Sub-forum 3 was hosted by the School of Electronic Science and Engineering, and co-organized by the School of Physics and the School of Modern Engineering and Applied Sciences. With the theme of “Targeting new quality productivity, cross-integration to promote innovation”, starting from accelerating the development of new quality productivity, facing the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation in my country, focusing on technological innovation in emerging industries and future industries such as new materials to quantum computing, from “artificial intelligence +” to sustainable development, from digitalization to intelligent manufacturing, aiming at improving the ability to solve bottleneck problems, “adapting measures to local conditions” to carry out academic exchanges for doctoral students, aiming at new quality productivity, promoting interdisciplinary exchanges, leading innovation in key areas, and strengthening the deep integration of “production, learning, research and application”.

The “Doctoral Interdisciplinary Innovation Forum” is one of the featured activities of Nanjing University’s “Graduate Academic and Technological Festival”. It has been held since 2020. It aims to strengthen the basic strategic support for the construction of a strong country in education, centering on the fundamental task of cultivating morality and cultivating talents, and guiding the majority of graduate students to actively serve and solve the country’s most pressing strategic problems, diligently explore at the forefront of science, and make breakthroughs in key areas. Previous “Doctoral Interdisciplinary Innovation Forums” have adopted the method of rotating sub-forums, and determined sub-forum topics around themes such as national major demand strategies, strengthening the country through science and education, and the development of new quality productivity. The forum activities are rich and diverse, and the university has widely solicited academic papers and scientific research reports related to the theme of the forum. The activities include academic reports, special lectures, poster displays, seminars and exchanges, which fully demonstrate the interdisciplinary characteristics and encourage academic exchanges and interactions between teachers and students.