Striving for First-Class Excellence through Practical Work—2025 New Year Message from HUTB
2024-12-31
Dear teachers, classmates, alumni, friends:
As we enter the new year, we embrace everything new around us! On this auspicious occasion of ushering in the new year, we extend our warmest New Year’s greetings to all of you!
Over the past year, the "China Ship" has forged steadily ahead, with the grand vision of Chinese-style modernization unfolding. Together with the nation’s progress and uniting as one with our 75 years of experience, particularly the achievements of the last decade, we have focused on boosting initiative, pursuing transformation, enhancing core values, and promoting leapfrog development. This has led to the successful accreditation of our university as a doctoral degree-granting unit, and the Management Science and Engineering discipline being approved as a first-level discipline authorized to offer the doctoral degree program. HUTB is now sailing full speed ahead towards becoming a first-class university.
Through diligence and practice, we have built a highland for Party building and ideological and political education. Party building has been leading with strength and effectiveness, theoretical education has been deepened and solidly implemented, and Party discipline education has been carried out on a regular and long-term basis. Numerous exemplary achievements have emerged, including the national Party building "model Party branches", national and provincial "Dual Leaders" teacher Party branch secretary teams, and "advanced grassroots Party organizations" in the provincial education system. We have been upholding fundamental principles while innovating in our ideological and political education. Comprehensive courses on excellent traditional Chinese culture and the Red culture of Huxiang have been offered. The "1+8+N" system of core ideological and political courses has been solidly implemented, and the characteristic "rooted downward, growing upward" ideological and political courses have been creatively developed. Exemplary students, such as Chen Yanbo, who bravely rescued a kidnapped girl, have showcased the outstanding qualities of our students.
Through diligence and practice, we have taken the lead in deepening reforms. We have addressed the challenges of development through reform. The university has been approved as one of the first pilot units in Hunan Province to "promote integrated reform of the education, science, technology and talent systems and mechanisms". Closely aligned with the needs of China’s and Hunan’s modernized industrial system construction, we have established 4 new engineering schools and 7 new master’s degree programs in addition to the existing doctoral programs. Optimization and adjustment of disciplines and majors have been vigorously advanced, with a dynamic adjustment rate of majors exceeding 60%, and artificial intelligence coverage across all majors. Internal organizations and positions have been significantly optimized, and the reform of position-based performance evaluation has continued to deepen. We have successfully hosted the Chinese Academy of Engineering’s academic symposium on "Digital Economy and Engineering Technology", and the "Towards 2035: Integration and Innovation for the Future" Science, Technology and Culture Expo has gained widespread recognition. The integration of "Digital Intelligence + (Artificial Intelligence +)", "Green +", and "Culture + Technology" has continued to highlight our distinctive features of integrated education.
Through diligence and practice, we have scaled new heights in scientific and technological innovation. Our faculty members have actively engaged in organized research, focusing on major strategic needs and working hard to make breakthroughs. We have achieved historic breakthroughs in winning the Hunan Science and Technology Outstanding Contribution Award, the Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress of Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation, and the first prize of the Ministry of Education’s Scientific Research Outstanding Achievement Award (Humanities and Social Sciences). We have undertaken 40 national-level projects, ranking first in the province in the number of social science and management projects, ideological and political education projects, and national art fund projects. We have applied for over 400 national invention patents as the sole and first applicant, among which 201 have been authorized. The turnover of technology contracts has once again exceeded RMB100 million.
Through diligence and practice, we have elevated the level of talent cultivation. We have won 43 awards in national and provincial mathematics competitions, setting a new historical high. Our students have won over 800 national and provincial awards in academic competitions, with the number and level of awards continuously rising. This includes 3 first prizes in the 6th Global Campus Artificial Intelligence Algorithm Elite Competition and 5 first prizes in the 26th China Robot & Artificial Intelligence Competition, as well as 2 national championships. We also achieved a breakthrough with a special prize in the "Challenge Cup" National College Student Extracurricular Science and Technology Works Competition. The admission scores for our general history and physics majors have risen to the 4th and 6th positions respectively among provincial universities, with significant improvements in admission rankings. The employment rate of our graduates remains among the top in the province.
Through diligence and practice, we have achieved high-level social service. The Xiangjiang Laboratory established by the university has forged deep collaborations with over 60 leading enterprises, producing and accelerating the transformation of more than 10 original products such as the Xuanyuan AI pre-training series of large models and a new generation of intelligent computing acceleration engine. The university has given a keynote speech at the provincial science and technology conference on these achievements. Our achievements have been selected among the Fourth Huxiang Think Tank Research "Top Ten Golden Strategies", and over 30 policy recommendations have been adopted by relevant national Ministries and Commissions. The effectiveness of rural revitalization has been continuously enhanced, with our achievements in the "Alumni Returning to Hunan" program ranking among the top in the province, including a second-place ranking in talent recruitment and introduction.
Through diligence and practice, we have developed an environment of enhanced well-being and security. The first phase of the Moon Island campus project has been fully completed, with 2 high-standard student dormitories put into use. 26 information technology projects have been completed, and 100 smart classrooms and 21 modern laboratories have been unveiled. Construction on the Fenghua Building, Xiangyang Building, and the Scientist Innovation Center is progressing steadily. The salaries and benefits of faculty and staff have been steadily improved. The university hospital offers higher-quality and more comprehensive medical services. Rich cultural and sports activities are widely available. Security has been strengthened. Both teachers and students enjoy greater well-being and security.
Seventy-five Years of Building Dreams Together, A Decade of Writing Remarkable Chapters. Looking back, the dreams of several generations of HUYB people have come true with the complete achievement of our "Three-upgrade Strategy" goal. The Xiangjiang Building and over a dozen other major buildings have been constructed, 14 state-of-the-art academies have been built, and the three campuses have been renovated. The "Seven Technology and Business Programs" have been fully revitalized. The campus landscape has undergone significant transformations: "small changes every year, major changes every three years, tremendous changes every five years, and a complete transformation every ten years". The university has surpassed its previous heights, accelerated its pace, and cultivated a warm and vibrant atmosphere. HUYB today is closer than ever to realizing its dream of becoming a first-class university in China! We are particularly pleased that our faculty and staff, students, and alumni at home and abroad are making outstanding achievements and great contributions. The senior professor Wang Minggao, who continues to dedicate himself to the university wholeheartedly after retirement, and the alumnus Liu Zhu, who traveled over 7,500 kilometers to donate hematopoietic stem cells to a stranger, both exemplify high moral character and inspiring spirit. Everyone is striving for excellence and contributing to a better future. Your pursuit of dreams is truly inspiring!
Building a great university is our shared aspiration. Today, we are more confident, more assured, more vibrant, and more empowered as we move forward! Standing at the new starting point of elevated academic levels, and guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, our generation has the determination, confidence, and ability to carry forward the legacy and create new glories.
Diligence achieves dreams and practice creates the future. As we enter the new year of 2025, we will continue to uphold the principles of contributing to society and serving the people, being self-reliant and self-improving, seeking truth and making innovation, and pursuing excellence. We will focus on the theme of "promoting reform, enhancing vitality, strengthening characteristics, and developing a first-class university", and adhere to the principle of "all for teachers and students, for all teachers and students, and for everything of teachers and students". We will vigorously advance the integrated development of education, science, technology and talent, strive to realize our dream of building a "Double First-Class" university, and demonstrate the university’s stronger commitment and greater contribution to national prosperity and rejuvenation.
Let us work together to pursue the dream of first-class excellence. May our motherland prosper, and may our university thrive. May your passion ignite your dreams and your practical work create a better future!
Chen Xiaohong, Secretary of CPC HUTB Committee and CAE academician
Liao Xiangyue, President
