With 2022 knocking on the door, we are ready to embrace another year of brilliance. While cheering to a new beginning, as always, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks and New Year’s greetings to all the students, faculty & staff, retirees and alumni at home and abroad and to people from all walks of life who have long cared and supported Fudan’s development.
2021 is a milestone year. Our country has accomplished the first centenary goal of building a moderately well-off society and moved on to the next of building to a prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious and beautiful society. Fudaners learn from the past and forge ahead with determination, ready to embark on a new journey of magnificence, but the year 2021 will be imprinted indelibly in our mind.
2021 is an unforgettable year because of the wisdom and strength gathered by Fudaners. We worked with high morale and gathered more people to join our endeavor in building Fudan into a world’s leading university with Chinese characteristics. We put development on the top of our agenda. We began implementing our overall plan for the 14th Five-Year period, launched a new round of Double First-Class Construction and formulated the action plan for building first-class disciplines. We regard talents as the paramount resource of the university. We carried out the Excellence 2025 talent training plan, and ranked first in the Gold award tally at the National Postdoctoral Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition. We believe innovation is the primary driver. We won the first prize of the National Natural Science Award, reached a record high in the number of projects supported by the National Natural Science Foundation and in the number of the first prize of the Shanghai Science and Technology Award, displayed many of our research achievements at the 13th Five-Year Scientific and Technological Innovation Achievement Exhibition, and ranked second in the number of major projects supported by the National Social Science Foundation. We continue to reform our education and research system. We adopted new evaluation standards for education and research performance suitable for this era and deepened reform of medical education management, co-established Fudan-European Centre for China Studies with University of Oslo, made new achievements in our high-level partner program and made new contributions to the Belt and Road Initiative and the blueprint of a Community of Shared Future for Mankind.
2021 is an unforgettable year because of our lofty mission of educating outstanding Fudaners. We deepened our education reform by improving the all-round education system in terms of disciplines, teaching, textbooks and management. We stepped up moral education across curricula at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, won 25 national excellent teaching material awards, and hosted the first National University Teaching Innovation Competition with great success. We implemented the 2+X undergraduate education plan in all majors, added 20 national-level first-class undergraduate majors, added another Bajian Plan (拔尖计划) 2.0 base, carried forward the Boying Plan (博英计划) for postgraduate education, and added three first-level doctoral degree disciplines. Fudan students made great achievements as well, with 169 undergraduate students winning prizes in 87 high-level national academic competitions, 83 graduate students winning prizes in 10 national postgraduate-level innovation and practice competitions. We also won 3 gold medals in the 7th Internet+ University Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, and 4 first prizes in the 6th National Art Exhibition. Fudan volleyball teams won the championship in the women’s competition and the second place in men’s competition in the National University Volleyball League. More than 10,000 graduates joined the labor market, and many served at primary-level posts in needed areas.
2021 is an unforgettable year because of the good tradition passed down through our faculty and staff. We payed tribute to former presidents Chen Wangdao and Xie Xide and other masters that devoted their lives to Fudan. They are role models that encourage our current faculty and staff to take on the great responsibility of nurturing students and building the university. A group of faculty and staff won the National Labor Medal, National Outstanding Teaching Award, Shanghai Good Teacher Award, etc.
2021 is an unforgettable year because of the solidarity and unity demonstrated by Fudaners. We took the initiative in aligning with major national strategies and socioeconomic development plans, taking an active part in the construction of state-level laboratories and Zhangjiang Fudan International Innovation Center. We stepped up our effort integrating ourselves into the Yangtze River Delta through our Qingpu Campus that is undergoing construction. Despite Yongping County of Yunnan Province has been lifted out poverty, we will continue to lend our support for Yongping people. Zhongshan Hospital affiliated to Fudan University was listed in the first group of medical institutions with counseling function by the National Medical Center. Huashan Hospital affiliated to Fudan University was approved to build the National Neurology Medical Center and the National Infectious Diseases Medical Center, and the School of Stomatology has been officially launched. All the affiliated hospitals guarded the city against the COVID-19 virus. Our alumni and university board members at home and abroad never ceased to support the development of Fudan. We will never forget how Fudaners helped out each other when Fenglin Campus and Jiangwan Campus were temporarily closed for medical observation. We managed to keep good order in our teaching and research while observing emergency rules. Everyone share the same sentiment: We love this loving and cohesive Fudan community!
We will grasp every opportunity given by the times. As we march confidently towards the second centenary goal, we will quicken our steps in achieving high-quality development and becoming a world’s leading university. We are marching on an innovative path of talent cultivation, indigenous research and cultural inheritance to better serve the country and the people and cooperate with others on education. We have a promising journey ahead and we will surely make every step in the future a commendable breakthrough. As long as all Fudaners adhere to their original aspirations with determination, we will be able to forge ahead despite great difficulties and challenges.
In the new year, we will continue to prioritize both academic achievements and high morality in our education, take a down-to-earth attitude in conducting innovative work, gain the momentum of the times to strive to build Fudan into a world’s leading university with Chinese characteristics, and make new contributions to the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation!
Chair of Fudan University Council
Jiao Yang
President of Fudan University
Jin Li
December 31, 2021
