Standing at the New Starting Point of the Centenary of School Establishment and Achieving New Leaps in Development
Dear teachers, students, alumni and friends:
As the spring sunshine gradually returns and everything starts to renew, on the occasion of bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, we would like to extend our warmest greetings, heartfelt gratitude and sincere blessings to all the faculty, staff and students of the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Ocean University of China, retired comrades, and a large number of alumni, as well as friends from all sectors of society who have long been concerned about and supported the development of the school.
In 2024, guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the school conscientiously studied and implemented the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the second and third plenary sessions of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and the spirit of the National Education Conference. In particular, it implemented the spirit of the important reply letter from General Secretary Xi Jinping to all the teachers and students of Ocean University of China. Under the correct leadership of the Party committee and the administration of the university, seizing the important historical opportunity of the centennial anniversary of the university and focusing on the implementation of the tasks of the 11th Party Congress, continuous efforts were made in aspects such as the construction of the teaching staff, talent cultivation, scientific research, social services, and resource gathering, achieving remarkable progress. The development of the school continuously opened up new prospects and presented a new look.
This year, the leading role of Party building has been continuously strengthened. Persisting in taking studying, publicizing and implementing the spirit of the important reply letter from General Secretary Xi Jinping as the primary political task for the current and future periods, an in-depth discussion on “Keeping in Mind the Entrustment and Courageously Undertaking the Mission” was carried out, and an implementation ledger for the tasks of the school's implementation plan was formulated. The construction of the leadership team was continuously strengthened. The members of the leadership team were organized to carry out practical education in Shanghai and Jiaxing, participate in the Forum of Deans of Materials Schools of National Well-known Universities and give keynote speeches. Multiple measures were taken to build a leadership team with firm beliefs and coordinated cooperation. The leadership team was rated as excellent in the 2023 annual assessment. The in-depth and practical learning and education of Party discipline was promoted, and the progress was shared at the school's promotion meeting on learning and education of Party discipline.
This year, a series of activities to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the university were successfully held. Highlighting disciplinary characteristics, international and domestic academic conferences such as the 5th China-Japan-South Korea Symposium on Lithium-Ion Battery Materials and the Future Scientists National Postgraduate Academic Forum, as well as disciplinary competitions such as the 1st Shandong 3D Printing Design Competition, were held. Alumni work was carried out with heart and soul. The school's leadership team led teams to visit alumni in Shanghai, Chongqing, Guangdong, Henan and other places, visited alumni enterprises, updated and improved the alumni information database of more than 3,000 people; carried out the “Ten Ones” activity for alumni work. Alumni enthusiastically donated money and materials, served as entrepreneurial mentors and gave special reports; organized alumni to hold symposiums and exchanges to offer suggestions for the development of the school, creating a centennial anniversary atmosphere with depth, height, magnanimity and warmth, making the centennial anniversary a new starting point and accelerator for the development of the school.
This year, breakthroughs have been made in the construction of the teaching staff. All the teachers in the school were organized to formulate personal career development plans, the measures for cultivating young teachers were issued, symposiums for newly recruited faculty and staff were held, and “Teacher Development Coffee Talk” was organized to promote the improvement of the teaching and research abilities of young teachers. One person was elected as a member of the Asia-Pacific Academy of Materials Sciences, one person was rated as a young top-notch talent of the “Ten Thousand Talents Program” by the Organization Department of the Central Committee, one person was approved for the Shandong Outstanding Youth Fund, one person was approved for the Shandong Excellent Youth Fund, one person was rated as a young expert of the Taishan Scholar in Shandong Province, one person passed the defense of the Young Talent Support Project of the China Association for Science and Technology, one person was rated as the most beautiful teacher of the school, and one person won the second prize of the “Haichao Yingcai Award”. The Extreme Environment Materials Studio was approved as the “Innovation Studio of Model Workers and Outstanding Talents in the Shandong Education System”. Five young talents, one faculty postdoctoral fellow, one research postdoctoral fellow, one experimental technician, one green card professor and one visiting professor were introduced. One person was selected for the national overseas talent introduction project for postdoctoral fellows, and one person was selected for the overseas talent cultivation plan of the school. The strength of the teaching staff was significantly enhanced.
This year, the quality of talent cultivation has been significantly improved. The major of New Energy Materials and Devices recruited students for the first time, and the number of undergraduate students recruited by the school reached a record high. The Shandong Modern Industrial College of Marine Materials was approved. The one-time pass rate of off-campus blind evaluation of master's and doctoral dissertations was 100%, ranking first in the whole school. One course was selected as a first-class course in Shandong Province, and one themed case of the Center for Degree and Graduate Education Development of the Ministry of Education was approved. One person won the fourth “Son of the Sea · Journey Far” Outstanding Graduate Scholarship of the school, one person won the 11th Annual Figure of Postgraduate Students of the school, one national undergraduate innovation project was approved, and 38 awards were won in provincial and ministerial competitions such as the 19th “Challenge Cup” National Undergraduate Extracurricular Academic and Technological Works Competition. The school's leadership led teams to visit more than 20 units such as BYD to expand job opportunities. The employment implementation rates of the 2024 and 2025 graduates ranked among the top in the school.
This year, the levels of scientific research and discipline construction have been effectively improved. The Technical Committee of the Engineering Research Center of Marine Materials and Protection Technology of the Ministry of Education was established, and 17 people including 3 academicians and national talents were invited to serve as members. The Qingdao Engineering Research Center of Marine Energy Materials and Technology was approved. One First Prize for Technological Invention of Shandong Province and one First Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress of Qingdao were won. Five general projects and five youth projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, four major basic research projects and projects for outstanding and excellent young talents in Shandong Province, one key basic research project of the Basic Strengthening Plan of the Science and Technology Commission of the Central Military Commission, four projects of the Qingdao Science and Technology Plan, and four postdoctoral fund projects were approved. More than 180 scientific research papers were published in JACS, Angew, AM, Nature Communications, AFM, etc., and more than 20 national invention patents were authorized. More than 10 academic conferences were held and hosted. Nearly 10 invited reports were given at national conferences such as the National Conference on New Dual-Use Materials and the Conference on Marine Materials Corrosion and Protection. More than 20 experts were invited to give academic reports at the school, and the academic atmosphere became increasingly strong.
This year, the capabilities of serving society and gathering resources have been continuously enhanced. A joint R&D center for marine photovoltaic technology was signed and jointly built with Quanwei Technology Company, with a construction fund of 10 million yuan. As the leading unit, it promoted the signing of a school-local cooperation agreement between the university and Binzhou City, and signed school-level cooperation agreements with Qingdao Special Steel Company and the National Deep Sea Base Management Center, and provided a long-cycle capacity improvement training course for Qingdao Special Steel. One person was employed as a special chief scientist of China North Industries Group Corporation Limited and was invited as a high-level leading talent to record a promotional micro-video for the Shandong Innovation Talent Development Conference and the “Overseas Talents Recruitment Fair”. Cooperation and exchanges were strengthened with units such as Tianjin Dredging Company of China Communications Construction Group, Polar Research Institute of China, China Merchants Group and China North Industries Group, and efforts were actively made to promote the signing of cooperation agreements. Many teachers held temporary positions in local governments, enterprises and academic societies. The agreed amount of donation funds raised was 8.96 million yuan, and the received amount was 1.16 million yuan.
This year, safety and stability and condition guarantee have been continuously strengthened. The safety defense line has been firmly held. Safety and stability work has always been placed in a prominent position. The “Measures for the Investigation of Laboratory Safety Responsibilities” was issued, and activities such as emergency drills for laboratory safety accidents and the 10th Campus Safety Culture Festival were organized to improve the safety awareness of teachers and students and their emergency response capabilities for safety work. The school won the titles of Advanced Unit for Safety and Stability Work and Advanced Collective for Confidentiality Work of the school. The laboratory environment renovations of high-resolution transmission electron microscope and X-ray photoelectron spectrometer were completed; large-scale instrument and equipment such as in-situ X-ray diffractometer, electron backscatter diffraction spectrometer and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer were put into use; multiple sets of instrument and equipment worth nearly 7 million yuan were successively put into undergraduate teaching, and the experimental conditions were significantly improved. The second phase of the Materials Building started smoothly, providing sufficient space for the development of the school.
Dear teachers, students, alumni and friends!
On the eve of the centennial anniversary of the university, President Zhang Junfeng made a special trip to the school for research. He affirmed the achievements made in the recent development of the school and expressed earnest expectations for its future development. At the same time, he indicated that greater support would be given to the materials discipline. Standing at the new starting point of the next hundred years, the school will conscientiously study and implement the spirit of the important reply letter from General Secretary Xi Jinping, transform General Secretary Xi Jinping's earnest entrustment and high expectations into vivid practices for the high-quality development of the school's cause, further seize opportunities, gather strength, display “new materials look” in the construction of the new era of Haida engineering and the implementation of the new era of blue dream plan, achieve “materials acceleration”, sound “materials strongest voice”, and contribute “materials” strength to the construction of a world-class university with distinct characteristics.
We sincerely wish you all a happy New Year, all the best and good health and well-being!
December 31, 2024
