Jiangxi Provincial Department of Education replied that members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference suggested significantly improving the treatment of doctoral students in science and engineering
According to the website of the People's Government of Jiangxi Province on September 12th, the Education Department of Jiangxi Province recently responded to Proposal No. 0322 of the First Session of the 13th Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, proposing that the key to implementing the revitalization of the province through science and education is to significantly increase the scale and treatment of doctoral students in science and engineering. It stated that compared with neighboring provinces such as Anhui, Hunan, and Hubei, Jiangxi still has a significant gap in graduate education, especially doctoral education; It is possible to consider setting up a special fund from the "Double First Class" special fund by universities to increase the living allowance for doctoral students in science and engineering, and reward outstanding doctoral students based on their performance.
Previously, according to the news of "Shangrao Revolutionary Movement" on the WeChat official account, members of the Revolutionary Movement sector attending the first session of the 13th CPPCC Jiangxi Provincial Committee held a heated discussion around the government work report on the afternoon of January 11 this year. Among them, Xu Jingkun, a member of the committee, pointed out that there is a significant gap between the scale, quality, and treatment of doctoral students in Jiangxi Province and the national average, which supports the development of the province through science and education. Suggestion: Improve the treatment of doctoral students in science and engineering. The salary of doctoral students in science and engineering in Jiangxi Province is relatively low. To increase the salary of doctoral students in science and engineering to an annual salary of over 100000 yuan, the provincial finance needs to arrange special funds. Although the money is not large, it will play a significant role; Meanwhile, it is recommended to rapidly expand the enrollment scale of doctoral students. I hope that provincial leaders can lead a team to actively communicate with the Ministry of Education, expand the scale of doctoral enrollment, which is crucial for innovation driven development and the introduction of high-level talents.
The Education Department of Jiangxi Province stated in its response that graduate education is at the top of national education, an important combination of technology as the primary productive force, innovation as the primary driving force, and talent as the primary resource. It is also a driving force for the innovation system and an important foundation and engine for supporting, promoting, and leading modern development. As stated by the committee member in the "Proposal", "Technological innovation is the foundation of a strong country, and the cultivation of innovative talents is of utmost importance". "As the highest level of academic education, doctoral education is the main way to cultivate innovative talents, and the doctoral student group is an important force for innovating China and social progress". In the new era, enhancing the independent training ability of graduate students, significantly improving the scale and quality of doctoral students, especially those in science and engineering, is of great significance for enhancing the scientific research strength and level of universities in Jiangxi Province, and promoting high-quality development in Jiangxi Province.
The Education Department of Jiangxi Province stated that in order to change the unfavorable situation of too many historical debts and weak foundation in graduate education, especially since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Provincial Party Committee and Government have firmly implemented the strategy of revitalizing Jiangxi through science and education and strengthening the province with talents, paying special attention to high-level talent cultivation, continuously increasing investment in graduate education, and making a series of decisions and deployments such as establishing the Jiangxi Provincial Government Graduate Scholarship, implementing the provincial "Collaborative Innovation Center" plan, and constructing the provincial "Double First Class". In seizing the opportunity of degree authorization review by the State Council Academic Degrees Committee, the main leaders of the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government have personally taken action and promoted it from a high position. In the recent two rounds of degree authorization review, the main leaders and responsible leaders of the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government, whenever given the opportunity, earnestly request the Ministry of Education to support the recommendation of degree authorization review in Jiangxi Province. The Provincial Academic Degrees Committee has also been strengthening communication with the State Council Academic Degrees Committee, striving to obtain support for the degree authorization review work in Jiangxi Province. Although we have made a lot of efforts and made some progress, there is still a significant gap in graduate education, especially doctoral education, compared to neighboring provinces such as Anhui, Hunan, and Hubei. We need to work together to make greater efforts in the future.
Regarding the suggestion of "rapidly expanding the enrollment scale of doctoral students", the Education Department of Jiangxi Province responded that the first is to strengthen the foundation of doctoral education. Seriously implement the overall plan for the establishment of new doctoral and master's degree granting units and authorized points in Jiangxi Province's universities during the 14th Five Year Plan period, and support and supervise universities that apply for doctoral degree granting units and authorized points to strengthen their connotation construction. At the same time, the Provincial Department of Education provides support to doctoral degree granting units and authorized points in platform construction, educational reform projects, teaching achievement awards, and other aspects through "Double First Class" and optimization and adjustment of disciplines and majors. The second is to focus on supervising the application of doctoral degree authorization units in universities, benchmarking the basic conditions for doctoral degree authorization review formulated by the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council, consolidating the foundation, filling gaps, condensing characteristics, highlighting the development of local industries, and enhancing the comprehensive competitiveness of the application. Thirdly, we will continue to earnestly request the leaders of the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government to come forward and reflect the demands of Jiangxi Province's application for doctoral degree granting units to the leaders of the Ministry of Education. At the same time, in collaboration with relevant departments, we will provide preferential support to doctoral degree granting units and degree authorization points in talent introduction, platform construction, provincial first-class majors, and funding investment. By adding new doctoral degree granting units and authorization points, lay the foundation for increasing doctoral enrollment plans. On this basis, we will continue to strive for the Ministry of Education to increase the enrollment plan for doctoral students in Jiangxi Province.
Regarding the suggestions of "significantly improving the treatment of doctoral students in science and engineering" and "rewarding doctoral students who have achieved excellent results", the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Education replied that according to the spirit of the "Notice on Improving Financial Allocation Policies for Ordinary Undergraduate Universities" issued by the Provincial Department of Finance and the Provincial Department of Education, the average financial allocation standard for engineering doctoral students is 31270 yuan/student/year. After communication with the Ministry of Finance, there are currently no plans to increase the special funds for living allowances for doctoral students in science and engineering. According to Article 8 of Chapter 3 of the "Management Measures for Financial Funds for the Construction of Double First Class" in Jiangxi Province during the 14th Five Year Plan "issued by the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Finance and the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Education," Double First Class "funds and their subsidy funds shall be used for the following expenditures of universities for project construction, including talent team construction, joint training of master's and doctoral students, etc. It can be considered that universities can establish this special fund from the "Double First Class" special fund, on the one hand, to increase the living allowance for science and engineering doctoral students, and on the other hand, to reward excellent doctoral students based on their performance.
Regarding the suggestion to significantly improve the treatment of postdoctoral fellows in our country, the Education Department of Jiangxi Province responded that postdoctoral fellows are an important component of young scientific and technological talents in China. The Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government attach great importance to postdoctoral work. Since the implementation of provincial-level management of postdoctoral work in Jiangxi Province in 2013, the development of postdoctoral platforms in Jiangxi Province has been rapid. As of now, there are 246 postdoctoral stations in the province, including 34 postdoctoral research mobile stations, 105 workstations, and 107 postdoctoral innovation practice bases. The recruitment of postdoctoral personnel has doubled correspondingly, with a total of 1895 postdoctoral fellows recruited in the province and 870 postdoctoral fellows on site. More than 2600 postdoctoral research projects have been completed, with a cumulative transformation of economic benefits of over 3 billion yuan. The contribution rate of postdoctoral work to the economy and society has significantly increased, and the postdoctoral team has become an important talent support to promote the high-quality leapfrog development of the economy and society in Jiangxi Province. However, compared with the development needs of Jiangxi Province and other provinces, there are still problems in the introduction and management of postdoctoral fellows in Jiangxi Province, such as a small total amount, poor structure, and high liquidity. It is urgent to further strengthen the attractiveness of postdoctoral policies and platforms in Jiangxi Province, and further improve the treatment of postdoctoral fellows on site. To this end, starting from March this year, the Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security took the lead in drafting relevant documents to stimulate the innovation and development of postdoctoral work. Policy measures were optimized and improved in aspects such as postdoctoral platform construction, personnel recruitment, on-site training, achievement transformation, innovation and entrepreneurship, leaving and staying in Jiangxi, and incentive protection. The postdoctoral treatment standards were significantly improved, and a wider range of coverage was achieved. The introduction of this document will fill the policy gap in Jiangxi Province to improve the effective increment and training quality of postdoctoral fellows, and will be conducive to vigorously promoting the high-quality development of postdoctoral undertakings in Jiangxi Province. At present, the documents are being submitted to the Talent Work Leading Group of the Provincial Party Committee for issuance in accordance with the procedures.
