The law turns to Hongjun, and the new yuan is enlightened. On the occasion of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks and best wishes for the New Year to all the faculty and staff who have been fighting in the front line of teaching, scientific research and service in the past year, to the retired veteran comrades, the students, and the alumni and people from all walks of life at home and abroad who have been caring for and supporting the development of the school
2023 is the first year for the full implementation of the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and it is also a year for Northeast Normal University to make more progress and write a new chapter in the future. Over the past year, the whole university has thoroughly studied and implemented the socialist thought with Chinese characteristics in the new era and the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, fully implemented the fundamental task of cultivating people with virtue, insisted on focusing on the four centers of "disciplines, students, scholars, and academics", promoted quality reform and high-quality connotative development, and took a solid step on the journey of building a world-class normal university.
Looking back on 2023, we will forge ahead with the important proposition of "Strengthening the country through education, what is the role of Eastern Normal School". We carry out in-depth study and implementation of the theme education of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, and take it as an important opportunity for the new team of the school to unify their thinking and the teachers and students of the school to work together for development, adhere to the teacher education in the new era as the first responsibility, deepen theoretical learning, promote investigation and research, carry out inspection and rectification, promote the establishment of rules and regulations, and achieve positive results in casting the soul with learning, increasing wisdom with learning, promoting positive trends with learning, and promoting cadres with learning. We carefully prepared and successfully held the 6th Faculty and Trade Union Congress to further consolidate the ideological consensus on the high-quality development of the whole school's faculty and staff, comprehensively strengthen the construction of democratic politics, solve the problems of teachers and students with heart and affection, and continuously improve the modernization level of school governance capabilities, so that teachers and students continue to enhance their sense of happiness and gain.
Looking back on 2023, we will work diligently, practice far-reaching, and strive to build a high-convergence discipline ecology. We will further promote the adjustment, optimization and reform of the setting of disciplines and majors, and deploy and build a number of disciplines and majors and teaching and research platforms that adapt to new technologies, new industries, new formats, and new models. 4 new first-level doctoral disciplines and professional degree categories have been added, regional and national research institutes have been established, and the cultivation and construction of future technology colleges and excellent engineer colleges have been approved. Based on the reform of the leader responsibility system (PI system) in key disciplines that we have explored for many years, we have selected and built 100 PI system discipline teams for the key construction of the school and the comprehensive construction of the college, so as to empower the grassroots breakthrough in the integrated development of "education, science and technology, and talents". We have made great efforts to optimize the layout of disciplines and majors on the two campuses, and promoted the adjustment of nearly 120,000 square meters of school-running space, providing strong support for the coordinated and sustainable development of discipline characteristics. We adhere to the integrated development of provincial schools and urban schools, and promote a new round of "double first-class" ministry-provincial co-construction to achieve outstanding results. With the joint efforts of all the staff of East Normal University, the second round of "double first-class" construction has achieved the phased goals with high quality, and a number of landmark achievements have emerged, with 3 disciplines entering the top ranks in the country in the third-party evaluation, and 9 disciplines entering the top 1% in the world, further building new advantages for development.
Looking back on 2023, we will cast our souls, enlighten our hearts, and make every effort to cultivate high-standard talents. The "Strong Teacher Plan", "Excellent Teacher Plan", "National Excellent Plan" and "Double Name Plan" have made concerted efforts, and the demonstration and leading ability of teacher education and the level of independent training of top-notch innovative talents have been continuously improved. All 20 normal majors have passed the certification of normal majors, ranking first in the country. 17 courses were selected as national first-class undergraduate courses, and 11 textbooks were selected as the first batch of national planning textbooks for vocational education during the 14th Five-Year Plan. It has won 7 national teaching achievement awards, among which the exploration of the training mode of Doctor of Education won the first prize of national teaching achievement (graduate class), realizing the full coverage of higher education, basic education and vocational education of the national teaching achievement award, and fully demonstrating the advantages of integrated education of kindergarten, primary, junior high and high school. Many students have won the Baosteel Outstanding Student Special Award, the National Grassroots Employment Excellence Award for College Graduates, and have been selected into the list of 100 National Scholarships of the People's **, and the first batch of graduates of the Lujiaxi Mathematics and Science Base Class have been funded by the European Union's "Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action" program. The speed skating team of our university won gold and silver in the "National Speed Skating Championships" and "Championships", and is the only full-time ordinary university in the country to participate in this professional event.
Looking back on 2023, we will broaden our talents, focus on our efforts, and continue to strengthen the introduction and cultivation of high-level talents. Establish the work concept of "big talents", accurately attract talents, carefully cultivate talents, and retain talents sincerely, and constantly optimize the environment for the growth and development of talents. Professor Shi Ningzhong was elected as the "National Model of Teaching and Educating People" in 2023, and the cumulative number of elected students has entered the first phalanx of colleges and universities in the country. The teaching team of optoelectronic functional materials led by Academician Liu Yichun was selected as the "Huang Danian-style Teacher Team of National Universities", and the construction of the teacher ethics demonstration highland has achieved remarkable results. 15 teachers were selected for the national talent engineering project, and the number of selected teachers reached a record high. The number of postdoctoral research stations has increased to 24, and the capacity of young talents has been steadily improved. A group of young teachers have won the first National Outstanding Young Graduate Tutor Award**, the 9th China Association for Science and Technology Young Talent Lifting Project, the Postdoctoral Innovative Talent Support Program, and the "Most Potential Award" of the Damo Academy Young Scholar Award, and the team of high-level young talents has been growing.
Looking back on 2023, we are determined to innovate, forge ahead, and strive to improve our high-level scientific research capabilities. Adhere to the "four aspects", take the initiative to meet the major national strategic needs and economic and social development needs, and strengthen organized scientific research. The liberal arts have won 19 major national key projects around cultural thought, whole-process people's democracy, modern civilization of the Chinese nation, and education powerThe new research base of the Chinese national community of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission has been added8 consultation reports have been approved by party and state leaders;The 3rd Nichichi World History Award was successfully held. The number of key projects of the national key R&D program led by science has reached a record high, the funding of various scientific research projects at all levels has increased by more than 30% year-on-year, and the funding rate of national natural science projects is nearly twice higher than the national average. Weizhenlou Laboratory was fully opened, deepened the strategic cooperation with a number of "large institutes and large enterprises" in the integration of science and education, and the integration of industry and education, held a conference on the opening up of education, and started the joint construction of the "Sino-Russian Basic Science Research Center" with Moscow University in Russia, continuously expanding new partners and new fields of international cooperation, and continuously adding new momentum to the university's scientific research and innovation.
In the past year, the school has also achieved good results in cultural construction, comprehensive security, and social services. Looking back on this year, all the achievements of career development are inseparable from the hard work and selfless dedication of all faculty and staff, the suggestions and help of alumni at home and abroad, and the long-term attention and strong support from all walks of lifeI would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to the students who have gained knowledge and growth in the past year!
When the wind is good, it is the time to sail, and strive to chase the waves to the future. In September, when the general secretary presided over the symposium on promoting the comprehensive revitalization of Northeast China in the new era, he emphasized that it is necessary to "support the comprehensive revitalization of Northeast China with high-quality population development" and "increase support for colleges and universities in Northeast China", which fully reflects the ardent expectations of higher education for the revitalization of Northeast China. As a "double first-class" university located in Northeast China, we feel a great responsibility and are also facing a rare opportunity for development. Next year is a crucial year to accelerate the construction of a new round of "double first-class" and implement the "14th Five-Year Plan". The university is about to usher in the 16th Party Congress, drawing a beautiful blueprint for the critical period of building a world-class normal university. We must continue to focus on the theme of "high-quality development", continue to strengthen disciplines, educate students, gather scholars, and excel academics with a more energetic and promising attitude and a more realistic and pragmatic spirit, and strive to create a new chapter worthy of the motherland, the people, and the times
I wish you all good health, happiness and all the best in the new year!
Northeast Normal University.
December 31, 2023.