The Chinese government Thursday initiated the Double World Class project, taking SCUT and four of its subjects as candidates for building world-class universities and world-class academic fields.
According to Xinhua News, the Double World Class project aims to elevate 42 of the country's higher education institutions to a world-class level, while another 95 institutions have been designated to develop world-class academic fields.
Except for entering the 42-institution list, SCUT also has chemistry, materials science and engineering, light industry technology and engineering, and agricultural science named in the project as key academic fields.
The circular that announced candidates of the project was jointly issued on September 21 by the ministries of education and finance, as well as the National Development and Reform Commission.
The institutions were selected after a process of peer competition, expert review and government evaluation, according to the circular.
China used to evaluate the academic level of its universities via the 211 and 985 projects that were both launched in the 1990s. This new project is based on the previous two and committed to promoting regional coordinated development of higher education.
Source from SCUT’s Office of Development Strategy and Planning, and Xinhua News
Translated and compiled by Xu Peimu
Edited by Xu Peimu and Deng Langchu
