| Date: | 11 September 2014 |
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| Speaker: | Prof. Zhang Jie |
Pathway Towards Excellence — Institutional Incentive System at Shanghai Jiao Tong University 制度激勵 — 大學變革的選擇. Higher education in China has experienced rapid growth in the past three decades, with ever increasing investment in education and research nationwide. Right now the universities in China are at a critical moment of the transitional period which calls for new momentum to fuel socioeconomic transformation and innovation. As the engine for sustainable growth, the universities must have a sound incentive system that emphasizes the dignity and creativity of their faculty members. For its part, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) has taken a series of reform measures over the past decade to put in place an institutional incentives system capable of invigorating the university in all aspects and on sustainable basis. Specifically, the development mode has been shifted from administration driven to academic driven with more power delegated to schools and colleges. The management mode has been shifted from centralization to de-centralization. The incentive mode has been shifted from university planning to personal development. In the long run, SJTU aims to build three systems to promote innovation, that’s ‘Excellence in Talent Development’, ‘Excellence in Innovative Capacity’ and ‘Excellence in University Culture’.
Professor Zhang Jie received his Ph.D. degree from the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in 1988. From 1989 to 1998, he worked at several world-renowned universities and research institutions including University of Oxford. Prior to his appointment as President of Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2006, he had consecutively taken up a list of academic positions including Research Fellow at the Institute of Physics, CAS, Director of Laboratory of Optical Physics, CAS, Deputy Director of Institute of Physics, CAS (January 1999-2003), Director General of Bureau of Basic Sciences, CAS (2003-2006).
With Professor Zhang’s significant achievements in the fields of high energy density physics and laser plasma physics, he had won a number of awards such as TWAS Prize in Physics, Young Scientist Award of China, Qiushi Outstanding Young Scholar Award, Chinese Physical Society (CPS) Rao Yutai Award in Physics, Chinese Optical Society (COS) Wang Daheng Award in Optics, Overseas Chinese Physics Association (OCPA) Achievement in Asia Award and Ho Leung Ho Lee Science and Technology Progress Award. Under his leadership, his team was awarded the 2nd Prize of Natural Sciences in 2006 and Outstanding Science and Technology Achievement Prize in 2007. Besides, Professor Zhang had served as president of the Association of Asia Pacific Physical Societies and Deputy Director of Committee of Experts in High Power Laser under National High Tech R&D Program in China (863 Project).
presented by
Office of the Vice-President (Research)
