On March 13 and 14, an XMU delegation visited Peking, Tsinghua and Shandong Universities to explore their practices in graduate education. The visits were intended to advance the comprehensive reform of graduate education, enhance the quality of talent education, and facilitate the implementation of the “Double First-Class” initiative at XMU.

The delegation was composed of Prof. Jiang Yunbao, Executive Vice Dean of the XMU Graduate School; Prof. Fang Ying, Vice Dean of the XMU Graduate School and Director of its Training and Management Office; Yu Zizhong, Director of the XMU Admissions Office; Xu Meixia, Deputy Director of the XMU Student Affairs Office; Wang Chuanjin, Deputy Director of the XMU Test Center; as well as staff members of the Graduate School’s Training, Degrees and General Offices. During their visits, they met with Wang Tianbing, Zhang Wei and Liu Guoliang, Vice Deans of the Graduate Schools of Peking, Tsinghua and Shandong Universities, respectively.

Both sides exchanged views, in depth, on the opportunities and challenges for graduate education under the nation’s “Double First-Class” University Development Program, the financial assistance system for graduate students, dynamic adjustment of degree programs, and allocation of places across PhD programs.

Peking, Tsinghua and Shandong Universities are all forerunners in China’s graduate education. In recent years, in their bid to gain world-class recognition, these universities’ graduate schools have carried out broad reforms in doctoral student recruitment, training mechanisms, supervisors’ professional development, and financial assistance for graduate students. In addition, they have made strong efforts to facilitate cutting-edge research by doctoral students and advance the development of emerging cross-disciplinary frontier disciplines.

XMU was among first Chinese higher-education institutions to offer graduate programs, with its first graduate program launched in 1926. In September 1986, with the approval of the State Council, XMU established a graduate school, becoming a major center for the training of master’s and doctoral students. In recent years, the XMU Graduate School has made significant headways in various areas, including combined master’s and doctoral degrees, revision of academic schemes for graduate students, the rotary experiment system for graduate students, the reform of the long semester for doctoral students, supervisor groups for graduate students, and appointment of supervisors for doctoral students. In July 2017, the XMU Graduate School was designated as one of the pilot institutions for the comprehensive reform of graduate education.

The visits to the three peer universities were intended to draw upon the best practices to enhance XMU’s scheme for graduate education reforms and resolve outstanding issues in the reforms.