On August 23, 2025, the Symposium on the Construction of “Regional Innovation in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region Oriented Toward Chinese-Style Modernization,” a key interdisciplinary project of Nankai University, was successfully held at the Balitai Campus. The meeting was chaired by the project leader,Professor Liu Binglian, Dean of the Institute of Economics and Social Development, and attended by four external experts from Liaoning University, Huaqiao University, and Shandong University, together with all the project mentors.
The symposium aimed to implement Nankai University’s Frontier Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies’ plans on interdisciplinary project development and talent cultivation. Centered on the three key tasks of building a support system for interdisciplinary projects, innovating project-based graduate training models, and optimizing the ecosystem for interdisciplinary research, the symposium further focused on task objectives, enhanced training programs, and improved working mechanisms to advance the development of frontier interdisciplinary disciplines.
In his opening remarks, Chen Yibin, Deputy Director of the Office of the Frontier Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies at Nankai University, introduced the overall situation of interdisciplinary development at the university and the background of the project’s establishment. Professor Liu Weilin, Vice Dean of the Institute of Economics and Social Development, provided a detailed report on the background, research objectives, technical approaches, and expected outcomes of the interdisciplinary project“Regional Innovation in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region Oriented Toward Chinese-Style Modernization.”He also introduced the training program for doctoral students under the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Collaborative Interdisciplinary Special Project.
This project focuses on issues of regional innovation in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region within the process of Chinese-style modernization. It integrates theories and methods from multiple disciplines—including artificial intelligence, public administration, and business management—while emphasizing both problem orientation and project orientation. The goal is to explore an integrated interdisciplinary research and talent training system based on the model of “project-driven + doctoral training + discipline incubation.”
Following the presentations, external experts provided comments and guidance from different perspectives. Professor Lin Muxi of Liaoning University recommended adhering to the principles of“employment orientation and quality assurance,”considering the source disciplines of interdisciplinary doctoral candidates, highlighting the unique features of their training, and adopting a step-by-step approach to gradually explore project-based interdisciplinary doctoral training models. Professor Guo Kesha of Huaqiao University suggested further examining the relationship between interdisciplinarity and specialization, noting that specialization is the premise of interdisciplinarity, and only related disciplines can effectively intersect. He emphasized that interdisciplinarity must be focused, with clear distinctions among disciplinary, project-based, and professional intersections. Professor Yang Huixin of Shandong University advised strengthening the role of doctoral supervisory teams in interdisciplinary training, optimizing the qualification requirements for doctoral dissertations, and enhancing both the mentoring capacity and collaborative abilities of faculty teams. Professor Zang Xuheng of Shandong University proposed drawing on international experience to design a scientifically sound and well-balanced curriculum system, further highlighting the distinctive features of interdisciplinary programs, while avoiding the problem of doctoral students spending“too much time in class and too little in research.”
This symposium not only deepened the project team’s understanding of key interdisciplinary research initiatives but also provided innovative ideas for future interdisciplinary development and talent cultivation. Based on the experts’ feedback, the project team will further refine the implementation approach of the interdisciplinary project and the doctoral training program, striving to achieve breakthroughs in both frontier theoretical research and the application of modern industrial practices. The goal is to contribute Nankai’s strength to advancing the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region as a pioneering and model area for Chinese-style modernization.
