Increase the proportion of doctoral professional degree authorization points and the latest deployment of doctoral education based on quality
Recently, the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council issued a set of guidelines titled “Opinions on Accelerating the High-Quality Development of Doctoral Graduate Education”. This marks a significant step toward deepening comprehensive reforms in doctoral education.
Doctoral education represents the highest level in national education and serves as a crucial pillar of the country’s innovation system. These guidelines aim to create a “world-class doctoral education system with Chinese characteristics,” focusing on developing strategic and urgently needed talents in line with the goal of building a strong education nation by 2035. The plan seeks to establish China as a major global center for doctoral education while ensuring an organic unity of scale, structure, quality, and efficiency in doctoral programs. The guidelines clarify policy directions and specific measures across various aspects such as disciplinary layout, independent talent cultivation, synergy between academia and industry, and resource allocation.
The document emphasizes the need to enhance the disciplinary system and strengthen the foresighted cultivation of strategic national talents. It calls for optimizing the arrangement of disciplines and programs to ensure they respond effectively to national needs. This includes improving the establishment and adjustment mechanisms for disciplines, particularly in STEM fields, basic sciences, and emerging interdisciplinary areas. Additionally, there is a focus on increasing the proportion of professional doctoral degree programs and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration.
The guidelines also recommend reengineering the elements of the training process to enhance the quality of independent talent cultivation. This includes strengthening ideological and political guidance, reforming admission management models, and facilitating multiple pathways for student selection and exit options. It encourages the establishment of differentiated categories for academic and professional degrees, an integrated innovation mechanism, the enhancement of evaluation systems, and the development of a high-level mentoring team, alongside deepening international collaboration for innovation.
Furthermore, the opinions stress the importance of optimizing resource allocation and enhancing coordinated leadership. There is a call for increased investment in doctoral education and the establishment of a stable support system. They advocate for regions and institutions with appropriate conditions to take the lead in piloting reforms in a categorized and phased approach.
(Reported by Pan Hongxu and Li Jingjing, CCTV)
