School of Basic Medical Sciences holds opening ceremony for Boya Class of Basic Medical Sciences
Peking: On the morning of September 20, the opening ceremony of Boya Class of Peking University Basic Medical Sciences was held at the Yangguang Hall of PKU Yingjie Exchange Center.
Present at the ceremony were Academician Han Qide, honorary president of China Association for Science and Technology, director of PKU Academy of Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, and chief advisor professor for Basic Medical Sciences Base of PKU Weiming Scholars (BMSB), Academician Qian Xu, professor at the University of California, member of the four national academies of the United States, and BMSB tutor professor, Academician Han Jisheng, honorary director of PKU Neuroscience Research Institute, and honorary president of Chinese Association for the Study of Pain and of Committee of the Study of Pain of Chinese Medical Doctor Association, and Academician Zhan Qimin, executive vice president of PKU, president of PKU Health Science Center, dean of PKU Shenzhen Graduate School, and BMSB tutor professor. They witnessed this historic moment together with the fifty students of the first Boya Class.
“Qiang Ji Ji Hua”, or “the plan for strengthening basic academic disciplines”, was launched by the Ministry of Education earlier this year. Focusing on the country’s major strategic needs and stressing the leading role of basic academic disciplines, the plan is a pilot enrollment scheme that aims to select and train students who have excellent comprehensive qualities or excel in basic discipline studies. PKU’s discipline of basic medical science has been included in the first batch of the plan and PKU has been granted with a 2.0 base for cultivating top students of basic medical sciences.
According to the project requirements, the School of Basic Medical Sciences has drawn up corresponding training plans and established the PKU Basic Medical Sciences Boya Class. Upholding the principle of “eight years in a row, integration of bachelor and doctoral degrees”, the Boya Class aims to cultivate excellent medical scientists and medical educators with innovative spirit, global vision, and profound medical basis. An interdisciplinary and integrating curriculum has been set up, led by academic masters and drawing upon excellent faculty from the whole university. The curriculum includes advanced expanded courses featuring scientific research and involves the training of students’ autonomous learning ability through blended teaching mode. Meanwhile, PKU’s excellent resources will be made full use of during the teaching, such as the key laboratories, the clinical medical centers, the key scientific technological projects, and the big data platforms. The system of cultivating scientific research abilities will be perfected so as to provide first-class support for broadening the global vision and promoting international exchanges for students of the Boya Class.