44 first level disciplines participated, and Fudan's "Cultural Calendar" discipline week was launched, marking the first time a domestic university has participated

"The goal of building the 'first Fudan' is to become a school that keeps pace with the world's top universities, the core of which is original innovation. In the process of human understanding of nature, original innovation is basically decentralized and random, but on the road of the development of various disciplines, there are often some major directions, becoming the 'engine' of the explosive development of the discipline." On September 1, at the launching ceremony of the "Cultural Calendar" Discipline Week of Fudan University and the opening ceremony of the Bioecology Discipline Week, Jin Li, president of Fudan University and an academician of the CAS Member, spoke as a scientist about the change of scientific research paradigm from genome to phenotype group.

Academic and disciplinary culture determine the foundation and ceiling of university culture

Innovation cannot be without soil, and education cannot be without culture. At the beginning of this academic year, Fudan University launched the "Cultural Calendar" for the first time, selecting nearly 400 academic and cultural activities on Fudan campus in the next year. We hope to use the calendar as a carrier to make the exciting and diverse campus cultural life a collective memory that connects Fudan people, so that every Fudan student can be subtly influenced and influenced in this fertile land, becoming more "outstanding and interesting".

"Academic is the foundation of a university, and disciplines are the fundamental units of its academic structure. Academic and disciplinary culture determine the foundation and ceiling of a university's culture," said Jin Li.

The biggest highlight of Fudan University's "Cultural Calendar" this year is the first time it has coordinated 44 first level disciplines across the university, and will jointly host 29 "Discipline Week" series activities. Each "Discipline Week" has a distinct theme, which is the first time among domestic universities.

Breaking down departmental barriers and placing disciplines as the main focus

The modern disciplinary system is constantly undergoing fission and integration, and specifically in universities, a discipline often involves multiple departments. It is reported that during the "Discipline Week", the literary, social, scientific, engineering, and medical departments all took the stage, aiming to break down departmental barriers, truly focus on disciplines, and gather relevant departments and institutions for each discipline.

The Chinese Language and Literature Discipline Week with the theme of "Research on Aesthetic History and Innovative Construction of Contemporary Aesthetic Theory" and the Economics Discipline Week with the theme of "High Quality Development of the Chinese Economy"... In terms of humanities and social sciences, the school expects the humanities discipline to follow the approach of rooted in China, learning from foreign countries, exploring history, grasping the present, caring for humanity, and facing the future, striving to become the flag and benchmark of Chinese humanities discipline; In the field of social sciences, we will provide theoretical and practical innovations in the theory and practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics, focusing on major issues, strengthening international influence, social contribution, and theoretical discourse power.

The Chemistry Week with the theme of "Chemical Innovation Life" and the Integrated Circuit Science and Engineering Week with the theme of "Integrated Circuit Technology and Industry in the Post Moore Era: Challenges and Opportunities"... In the field of science and engineering, we adhere to planting the "fruit tree" of basic scientific research and fully stimulate the original innovation vitality of basic science; Carry out scientific research guided by national tasks, and strengthen discipline construction around major national tasks and scientific frontiers.

As is well known, Fudan University has a strong affiliated hospital, and behind these medical institutions is a highly skilled medical discipline. The school is committed to accelerating the entry of a group of advantageous medical disciplines into the top domestic and world-class trends, and vigorously promoting the new medical direction of combining medical engineering and medical theory.

Experience the cultural charm of different disciplines more realistically

"The 'Discipline Week' will allow students to experience the cultural charm of different disciplines closer and more realistically, transforming disciplines from difficult to understand forms into concrete activities," said Xu Lei, Vice President of Fudan University.

During the "Discipline Week", major academic celebrations such as the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Political Science discipline and the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Polymer Science Department will showcase the latest scientific research achievements of each discipline by organizing a series of rich and colorful activities. In terms of activity formats, there are high-end forums, international conferences, academic lectures, face-to-face discussions with renowned teachers, as well as laboratory visits and academic competitions.

Cross integration is an important catalyst for promoting the development of disciplines. In 2020, Fudan University took the lead in launching the construction of the country's first "interdisciplinary" first level discipline - Integrated Circuit Science and Engineering, which is currently the only discipline in the field of integrated circuits selected for the "Double First Class" construction in the country. In addition, a number of first level interdisciplinary disciplines such as National Security Studies are also thriving in Fudan. In recent years, the school has established a large number of physical research institutions to further explore interdisciplinary frontiers and assist in the cultivation of composite innovative talents. In June of this year, the school launched the largest cloud based research intelligent computing platform for universities in China - "Qiewen-1" and "Jinsi-1". The school has also established the first batch of 20 academic development centers for disciplines, which will play a greater role in the formulation of disciplinary planning, overall planning of new disciplines and directions, and overall coordination of disciplinary resources. These disciplines and institutions will participate in this "Discipline Week" to seek more integration and development through exchanges.

[Related link] What is "the first Fudan"

"There won't be a second Harvard, Oxford, Stanford, MIT, Cambridge in the world, but there will be the first famous Chinese universities such as Peking University, Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University, Fudan University, and Nanjing University."

-- Speech by General Secretary Xi Jinping during a discussion with teachers and students of Peking University on May 4, 2014